This Week's CultureQuiz: Connect the Cultural Concepts with Their Meanings!
"Ordnen" in Germany; "Systeme D" in France; "Mianzi" in China. The list goes on! But What Do They Mean?
…and how about “Lagom” in Sweden, “La” in Singapore, or “Simpatico” in Mexico? If you’ve been reading my recent posts on important cultural concepts around the world, you might be able to link up each of these cultural terms with their correct meaning. But there are so many others! The world’s a big place, and many of you reading this have worked, lived in or travelled to much of it, so go ahead and see how familiar you are with the myriad cultural concepts the world provides. Below are this week’s five CultureQuiz questions, each featuring an important cultural concept from a particular world culture, with four possible definitions (a., b., c. or d.) of the concept. But only one definition is the correct one! Hint: All the cultures referred to in this week’s CultureQuiz are in Asia! Test yourself today and choose the correct multiple choice answer for each of the following five Asian CultureQuiz questions! (The correct answers follow the quiz, so if you haven’t already subscribed to deanfosterglobal.substack.com, you can do so right here).
ASIAN Culture Concept questions:
TSISMIS in the Philippines refers to…
a. the traditional village shunning of an individual who has an infectious skin condition of the same name.
b. a mix of various sweets served as an appetizer to a meal to honored guests.
c. gossip about others, fueling most interpersonal relationships, at home and at work.
d. the special bond that exists between children and their paternal grandparents.
JUGGAD in India…
a. refers to the requirement for individuals from different castes to demonstrate respect to each other.
b. refers to the special “western” wedding ceremony that often follows the Hindu wedding celebration when a Hindu Indian marries a non-Hindu westerner.
c. is a derogatory term used by north Indians to describe south Indians.
d. refers to the ability to cleverly “make do”, solve problems, or find solutions with whatever limited resources are available.
“NUNCHI” in Korea…
a. is a term used to describe the unique longing one feels for Korea when away from the country for an extended period of time.
b. refers to a common non-verbal evaluation of the character of an individual, usually achieved through direct eye-contact, accompanied by prolonged silence.
c. is an invitation to drop any existing formality and talk informally, as friends, as in “OK, let’s just be nunchi now”.
d. a reference to the uniquely Korean handshake, with the left-hand supporting the right arm when extended in greeting.
“MIANZI” in China…
refers to the proper seating order etiquette when a group enters a car or taxi.
is a term referring to the discomfort experienced in that period of time when a man and woman become interested in each other but have not yet been properly introduced and therefore traditionally cannot act on their feelings.
means “face”, a very important cultural concept in China: foremost in all that one does with others, always make face, never break or lose face.
refers to the obligations that one has to take care of someone’s needs, usually in reciprocity for past favors.
“NEMAWASHI” in Japan…
a. is a term that describes the requirement for networking and advocating (often involving much socializing after hours) that needs to occur between all members of a working group before any group decision can be made.
b. refers to the obligatory “gift” that hosts and guests must give to each other at the end of the first business meeting.
c. refers to the plastic replicas of the different dishes on a restaurant’s menu that are often displayed in the restaurant’s window.
d. is a derogatory term used by older adults to describe the behaviors of younger Japanese, usually those first entering the workforce.
Easy? Hard? So, how many CultureQuiz Culture Concept questions did you get right? Here are the correct answers below…and the reasons why!
Here are your correct CultureQuiz ANSWERS:
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