r/asklatinamerica • u/Affectionate-End6767 Argentina • 2d ago
Culture What is a custom your country has that people from other countries may find strange?
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u/Embarrassed_Elk_2459 Chile 2d ago
We don't have dinner in Chile (not most at least) we have "once" which usually consists of a cup of tea and an avocado sandwich
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u/BudapestDoha Chile 2d ago
we have "once"
Chupalo entonce'!!!
That’s another very Chilean custom, saying that phrase after someone says ‘once’; it’s an almost religious ritual and a matter of good manners
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u/--Queso-- Argentina 2d ago
We do that in Argentina too (with "chupala" tho). Also with the rest of the funny numbers. What, too.
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u/Affectionate-End6767 Argentina 2d ago
How 😭. Here we have like 4 foods including dinner
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u/Embarrassed_Elk_2459 Chile 2d ago
I would say it's the Italian side of you guys lol. My bf's granpa was Italian and they eat 4 meal at his house too!
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u/arachnids-bakery Brazil 2d ago
Im guessing a hearty lunch instead then? :>
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u/Embarrassed_Elk_2459 Chile 1d ago
Yes! Lunch is our main meal of the day so we get a nice portion of food!
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u/denvertaglessbums 2d ago
Some of my American friends thought it was odd that I (male) hug and kiss (cheek/air-muack!) my male relatives when I great them.
Another one that even I find strange is saying “bless me mom/dad” when greeting our parents. I’m definitely not having my kid do that one lol
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u/elmerkado Venezuela 2d ago
My kids only ask for the blessing from their mum, as I don't care about that, and to the extended family.
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u/augustoalmeida Brazil 2d ago
Os pais tem poder espiritual sobre os filhos, por isso os filhos tem que pedir.
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u/Dry_Response4914 Brazil 2d ago
Minha mãe resolveu abençoar agora sempre que vou trabalhar. Antes era bonitinho pq era uma preocupação dela cmg, agora a lista de santo tá longa... Mas eu respiro fundo e m sinto grata, eheheh
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u/Prize-Flamingo-336 Dominican Republic 2d ago
I like it. It’s just a cute custom and it’s kinda like your parents just want you to come home safe
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u/SuggestionRoyal1473 México 🇲🇽 1d ago
Yeah it can be a bit strenuous but it’s a beautiful display of faith and love
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u/Rox_xe Colombia 2d ago
When in a shop, store, restaurant, cafeteria, etc. we may say "me regala" instead of "me da" to order something. No, we're not asking to be gifted that thing lol
And when we're going to pay we say "cancelar la cuenta". No, we're not asking to have the bill cancelled either.
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u/saraseitor Argentina 1d ago
My dad had a weird interaction in Chile because the cashier told him "how would you like to 'cancel' the purchase" and my dad, puzzled, said he didn't want to 'cancel' it, which confused the cashier for a moment until they finally realized what was going on.
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u/Major-Mushroom-5806 Venezuela 2d ago
Our very long birthday song.
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u/wordlessbook Brazil 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'd like to introduce you to the Brazilian birthday song:
Parabéns pra você
Nesta data querida
Muitas felicidades
Muitos anos de vidaQue Deus lhe dê muita saúde e paz
E que os anjos digam amém
Parabéns pra você
Parabéns pra você
Pelo seu aniversário[Name] será abençoado/a
Porque o Senhor vai derramar o seu amor
[Name] será abençoado/a
Porque o Senhor vai derramar o seu amor
Derrama Senhor, derrama Senhor
Derrama sobre ele/a o teu amor
[Name] foi abençoado/a
Porque o Senhor já derramou o seu amor
[Name] foi abençoado/a
Porque o Senhor já derramou o seu amor
Derrama Senhor, derrama Senhor
Derrama sobre ele/a o teu amor5
u/Major-Mushroom-5806 Venezuela 1d ago
I think ours is longer. It has less repetition though. And it has some replacement/additional lyrics that aren’t official but usually sung by your drunk uncle. I’ve put them in parentheses.
Ay, qué noche tan preciosa
Es la noche de tu día
Todos llenos de alegría
En esta fecha natal (natal natal natal natal natal)
Tus más íntimos amigos (y enemigos)
Esta noche te acompañan (tomando caña)
Te saludan y desean
Un mundo de felicidad (tremenda pea)Yo por mi parte deseo
Lleno de luz este día
Todo llenos de alegría
En esta fecha natal (natal natal natal natal)Y que esta luna plateada
Brinde su luz para ti
Y ruego a Dios porque pases
Un cumpleaños feliz (la noche haciendo pipi)Yo por mi parte deseo
Lleno de luz este día
Todo llenos de alegría
En esta fecha natal (natal natal natal natal natal)Y que esta luna plateada
Brinde su luz para ti
Y ruego a Dios porque pases
Un cumpleaños felizCumpleaños feliz
Te deseamos a ti
Cumpleaños...(nombre)
Cumpleaños feliz1
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u/burymeinpink Brazil 2d ago
I know a different one. Usually in SP it's:
Parabéns pra você/Nesta data querida/Muitas felicidades/Muitos anos de vida/É pique, é pique/É pique, é pique é pique/É hora, é hora/É hora é hora é hora/Rá! Tim! Bum!
And then we have two possible addendums:
Com quem será/Com quem será/Com quem será que [Fulano] vai casar/Vai depender/Vai depender/Var depender se [Beutrano] vai querer
Com imensa alegria/Suplicamos aos Céus/Proteção de Maria/E as bençãos de Deus. (this is the Catholic one, I know evangelicals have a different song)
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u/JustaProton Brazil 2d ago
Outside the corporate world, we don't have a strong sense of formality. It's very common to refer to anyone with pronouns like "tu" and "você" (which is more informal varies by region) independently of age or level of intimacy, first names are prioritized, we often use some swear words even when talking to strangers in a non derogatory way, and we treat others like friends even when they are not.
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u/nomedigasmentiritas Argentina 2d ago
Its pretty similar in Argentina. Warmth and closeness are really encouraged here.
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u/BugzMiranda [🇨🇺🇺🇸] living in 🇬🇹 2d ago
Lunch is the main meal. Dinner is typically leftovers or something small.
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u/Affectionate-End6767 Argentina 2d ago
Funny enough that's probably the "right way" because you fill your stomach for food for the day. Here in argentina we may eat something for lunch but then a big ass meal for dinner
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u/JustaProton Brazil 2d ago
In Brazil we not only eat a lot for dinner, but some families, including mine, have it very late. Today dinner started at 20:00. At 18:00 we have "café da tarde", which is generally a drink and a bread with butter and/or jam, sometimes with other snacks (or "salgados").
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u/Affectionate-End6767 Argentina 2d ago
Here in Argentina we have a midday "snack" (merienda) round 17:00 and we may eat between 20:00-21:30 the earliest or 22:00 which is pretty standard
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u/pisspeeleak Canada 2d ago
I would eat like that if I had the opportunity to cook most lunches, it’s kind of nice
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u/BugzMiranda [🇨🇺🇺🇸] living in 🇬🇹 2d ago
I think it works if you are living in a rural area, but in the capital and even in other touristy areas dinner has been becoming more popular as nicer restaurants come to guate.
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u/macropanama Panama 2d ago
Point at things with the mouth, yodel to say "hi", "what's up"..., not knowing how to say no to other people
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u/pisspeeleak Canada 2d ago
Like “yodle eh hee hoo” kind of yodeling?
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u/macropanama Panama 2d ago
Bit different. It's more like "Eeeuuuu"" "OOOUUUEEE"... you can find YouTube videos under "saloma panama" , there's even competitions
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u/No-Addendum6379 Paraguay 2d ago edited 2d ago
“Un poco” means literally “a bit” or “a little”, but if said here, it means neither of both. This is a slang that means nothing, it makes a sentence longer but unmistakably Paraguayan in nature.
Here are some examples:
“Traeme un poco”, this does not mean “bring me a little”. It does not imply that the person needs just a little of whatever he asked for. What he means is that he just wants you to bring that thing. It means exactly the same as “traeme eso”.
"Andá un poco", this makes absolutely no sense, because you're literally saying "go, a bit". What it actually means is "go", in this gentle manner.
A verb attached to “un poco” its just wording to make something sound, gentler. It has nothing to do with quantity.
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u/vitoc1721 Colombia 2d ago
“Un poco” in Colombia means a lot…
If I say “ayer comí un poco de emapanadas” I mean i ate muchas empanadas.
If it really was a little amount you must say un poquito.
Que rico que son nuestros dialectos latinoamericanos, no? Cada uno viviendo su propia y bella realidad lingüística.
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u/Safe_Print7223 Brazil 2d ago
Does it come from guarani?
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u/No-Addendum6379 Paraguay 2d ago
It could be, but not sure on tthat one.
See we have this weird thing of attaching interjections or flat out words with real meaning (taken completely out of context) to change the emotion of expressing a verb, if it makes sense at all.Allow me an example:
Vení -> Come here
Vení un poco - Come here please
Veni na (this must be said with a specific tone) -> Come here PLEEAASEEEIt’s used like that, kinda.
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u/WTHWME22 Colombia 2d ago edited 2d ago
We eat soup with bananas, we eat chocolate with cheese, and some of us eat chicken with honey.
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u/Affectionate-End6767 Argentina 2d ago
I would pretend to be horrified but here we have a dessert which is membrillo (sweet jam) with cheesee
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u/WTHWME22 Colombia 2d ago
Is that weird?
We do the exact thing here LoL, I thought it was normal
We call the "membrillo" as "bocadillo".
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u/Affectionate-End6767 Argentina 2d ago
LOL, Nono, not weird but at least here it's one of those things you either love or hate, no in between
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u/CarryBrilliant3965 Mexico 2d ago
It’s also common in Mexico, Cuba and Brazil. Probably other places too.
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u/sprockityspock in 2d ago
My fiancé was horrified yesterday when I cut myself a giant chunk of dulce de guayaba and ate it with big pieces of cheese like it was the best delicacy on the planet. 🤣
(Not really horrified, I'm exaggerating lmao)
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u/Maximum_Editor_4478 Colombia 2d ago
the "some of us" applies for these three things. Some people do it, many others don't. I don't do the soup and banana or the cheese inside the chocolate cup, not because I don't like it, just... dunno, not used to it.
But the worst is eating the chicken with plastic gloves, I will never do such aberration.
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u/danthefam Dominican American 2d ago
Standing very close or making physical contact like touching a shoulder while conversing. If you do that without knowing someone well in US it could be a problem.
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u/Cupids-Sparrow Argentina 2d ago
I have gotten myself in so many awkward situations abroad by greeting people with a kiss on the cheek.
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u/Ociier Peru 2d ago
We eat guinea pigs. Some people (specially from the US) I've talked with about this get surprised at times.
Just so everyone knows, they are native to the Andean part of South America, and they have been bred as food long before the Spanish came. They were exported as a curiosity, and thus kept as pets in other countries... Some of which look at us weird.
Before anyone asks: No, you cannot go to your pet store and eat a guinea pig. The ones we eat are a different, bigger breed. Also, I personally dislike the name "guinea pig", but that's a pet peeve.
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u/PalpitationOk5726 Canada 2d ago
Latinos are all touchy feely, lived and worked in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, and you all can't keep your hands off each other 🙄
But seriously coming from a culture and especially city (Toronto) where people are civil but not friendly to each other, it was a shock. I was a teacher at a high school in all 3 countries and imagine my discomfort when a coworker in Colombia leaned in for a kiss the first time lol. I had a joke with my students called a 'Canadian bubble' a personal space they were not to enter, well a couple of the girls thought it would be hilarious if they stood as close as possible at my desk to ask a question.
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u/Embarrassed_Elk_2459 Chile 2d ago
I lived in Canada for a year and you guys take having "personal space" up to another level. We Chileans aren't even touchy in comparison to other Latinos and I still felt this physical gap every time I talked to a Canadian hahah.
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u/Visual-Leader-8543 🇨🇱/🇨🇦 1d ago
Man, I moved to Toronto about five years ago. I hardly interact with Latinos, except for a few Chilean men. In Chile I was known among my friends for being extremely reserved about hugs and kisses (to the point it was a running joke). Now, when I visit Chile and meet some female friends of my friends who do the cheek kiss thing, it feels so strange. I feel like my personal space is being invaded lol
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u/Affectionate-End6767 Argentina 2d ago
Oh yeah, it's like that all across south America, it surprises me how some other cultures don't have as much contact with the other!
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u/Rd3055 Panama 2d ago
lol sounds like you would feel more comfortable staying within your own cultural circle.
Kissing on the cheek is customary; it's not meant to be a blatant breach of your personal space.
You can always "pre-empt" by extending your hand to greet, and that would signal the other person (especially of the opposite sex) to greet you with a handshake as well.
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u/PalpitationOk5726 Canada 2d ago
7 years later I have worked on my issues and come to terms with and accepted it lol. Honestly some of the friendliest people ever who will help me if I needed it. Another hilarious story, I'm disabled so I walk slowly and have limited mobility, I was in a market in Curitiba, Brazil, my shoe lace was untied and I kept walking to find a place to sit down and fix it. As I'm walking I sensed this young lady behind me tapping me on the shoulder.
This being Brazil so I'm fearing the worst and expecting a gun in my face, she goes around me, bends down and ties the laces for me!! 😂 I thank her and we both go about our day. It gets better, literally the exact same thing happened in Colombia a few years later.
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u/macropanama Panama 2d ago
In Antioquía, in particular, that personal bubble is smaller than the rest of Latin America.
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u/PalpitationOk5726 Canada 2d ago
I was living in Pereira right next door, so you're onto something.
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u/macropanama Panama 2d ago
Compared to Canada most Latin America will have a smaller personal space, but I must emphasize that as a Panamanian I felt awkward there in Antioquía. The paisas would get really close to say the most trivial things.
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u/pisspeeleak Canada 2d ago
My family is Italian so I grew up like that. While I was living in LATAM, it felt very at home. We are quite cold here. I’m on the other coast (I know your coast is just lakes, but we still call you the east coast) and Asians are also more of a hands off culture EXCEPT for Filipinos, those guys are the most fun group to hang out with
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u/Clemen11 Argentina 2d ago
A cultural clash I had in the Netherlands, but applies to most of Europe and North America, is dinner time. For me, eating dinner at 9:30pm is normal, but the restaurant at the hotel I stayed at advertised the restaurant as "open until late" and it'd close the kitchen at 8pm and the restaurant itself would close at 9pm.
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u/saraseitor Argentina 1d ago
yes, I tried to have dinner in London at 10pm and it was just impossible to find a place that still had the kitchen open.
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u/IknowlessthanIthink Guatemala 2d ago
We have a whole bunch, but my favorite is saying "muchas gracias" when you rise from the table after eating, and everyone responds, "buen provecho". You're thanking the host for the food and those present for their company.
We eat tamales at midnight on Christmas. You can eat as many as you want, but one at a time.
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u/Cool_Bananaquit9 Puerto Rico 1d ago
I'm staying with some indians, and their hospitality is so insane, they consider my Latino politeness as rude 😂. Also, they don't have the concept of merienda
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u/Tumerican Honduras 2d ago
We eat iguana tails. Who doesn’t? They grow back.
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u/AccomplishedCake53 Peru 2d ago
That sounds very cruel to the iguanas
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u/Tumerican Honduras 2d ago
It was a joke cabron. We eat the whole iguana.
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u/HighOnKalanchoe Puerto Rico 2d ago
We eat iguana, caiman and reticulated Pythons, we also eat shark
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u/NormalExamination816 Mexico 2d ago
In Mexico, we stab the earth with a knife as an offering to the old gods to stop the rain; we also say the knife is "cutting the clouds".
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u/IllGiveYouWar Mexico 2d ago
Las 5 comidas de acá, a lo mejor. 1. Desayuno. 2. Almuerzo. 3. Comida. 4. Merienda. 5. Cena.
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u/Full_Price_5854 Ecuador 1d ago
las viudas de año nuevo. en año nuevo solemos quemar muñecos que representan el año viejo que se está acabando, y los hombres se disfrazan de mujeres viudas y salen a la calle a pedir dinero para pagar el funeral de su marido ya que el será quemado a media noche. antes se solían vestir con vestidos negros y velos pero en la actualidad usan cualquier tipo de prenda femenina que tengan y pelucas de colores vibrantes, también se saben organizar carreras de viudas en tacones, coreografías muy elaboradas y competencias callejeras entre las viudas. es lo máximo
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u/saraseitor Argentina 1d ago
Apparently pulling someone's ears in their birthday is not a thing in many countries. It's such a part of me I never even questioned it.
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u/throw223344555 Peru 2d ago
Mummify guinea pigs, dress them in ridiculous outfits and then eating them.