Figuraccia is my new favourite word. I love learning about cultural superstitions. Thailand is a hugely superstitious place, but often they'll wish you good luck even when it's not warranted. Like in place of saying "see ya later" they'll say "chok dee" (good luck) instead and then I'm instantly anxious because wtf do I need luck for? Life? That actually tracks the more that I think about it...
That's interesting!! I didn't know about Thailand being super-duper-stitious! I love learning about cultural differences and how they manifest in daily rituals
I was laughing and saying "oh no!" as I read along because this could have been me! Those little moments of confussion in another culture always make for great anecdotes and cringey flashbacks!
You've reminded me of a couple of things that to me meant nothing but to my Italian ex were the worst possible event in the world and provoked a sudden change of behaviour for apparently no reason.
I remember in particular the day we went to visit what would then be our flat for 9 years and he went white and was giving me terrified looks and saying no with his head even before the estate agent opened the door. I was a bit confused as we both had seen the online pictures and agreed it looked nice and the area was quiet and safe, so I couldn't understand what was going on. He later revealed that he thought the flat we were going to see was number 17, which was next door to ours, which he explained it's a number than in Neapolitan tradition bears very bad luck, or in his words "porta troppa sfiga, Cristi," and he wouldn't live there for all the money in the world. Fortunately the flat we were actually seeing was number 18 so that was a narrow escape : )
I wonder however what he would have said to the estate agent had the flat been indeed number 17 and how he would have reacted to that.
woooooowwww that's SUPERstitious for real! awww I miss hearing 'sfiga'! your comment made me smile :) and I can imagine how confused you'd have been! I wouldn't put so much emphasis on the house number, maybe it's a northern Italian trait, but I know about 17 being unlucky (it's the anagram of the latin verb VIXI which means 'I lived'). I haven't met a lot of superstitious Aussies but they do notice when Friday the 13th comes. That's madness. I feel like I am immune to commonwealth unlucky numbers, they mean nothing to me mwahahah.
Oh I know these cringissimo moments!! Just had one the other day. We'd stopped to talk with an elderly neighbour, and when it was time to leave I cheerily said "matane" (bye!). As we walked away my son lowers his tone and says to me, "Mum, I just have to let you know that 'matane' is only spoken to children, or close friends and family. You should be saying 'sayonara' or 'doumo'. " How had I not learnt this already?!
Figuraccia is my new favourite word. I love learning about cultural superstitions. Thailand is a hugely superstitious place, but often they'll wish you good luck even when it's not warranted. Like in place of saying "see ya later" they'll say "chok dee" (good luck) instead and then I'm instantly anxious because wtf do I need luck for? Life? That actually tracks the more that I think about it...
That's interesting!! I didn't know about Thailand being super-duper-stitious! I love learning about cultural differences and how they manifest in daily rituals
I was laughing and saying "oh no!" as I read along because this could have been me! Those little moments of confussion in another culture always make for great anecdotes and cringey flashbacks!
You've reminded me of a couple of things that to me meant nothing but to my Italian ex were the worst possible event in the world and provoked a sudden change of behaviour for apparently no reason.
I remember in particular the day we went to visit what would then be our flat for 9 years and he went white and was giving me terrified looks and saying no with his head even before the estate agent opened the door. I was a bit confused as we both had seen the online pictures and agreed it looked nice and the area was quiet and safe, so I couldn't understand what was going on. He later revealed that he thought the flat we were going to see was number 17, which was next door to ours, which he explained it's a number than in Neapolitan tradition bears very bad luck, or in his words "porta troppa sfiga, Cristi," and he wouldn't live there for all the money in the world. Fortunately the flat we were actually seeing was number 18 so that was a narrow escape : )
I wonder however what he would have said to the estate agent had the flat been indeed number 17 and how he would have reacted to that.
woooooowwww that's SUPERstitious for real! awww I miss hearing 'sfiga'! your comment made me smile :) and I can imagine how confused you'd have been! I wouldn't put so much emphasis on the house number, maybe it's a northern Italian trait, but I know about 17 being unlucky (it's the anagram of the latin verb VIXI which means 'I lived'). I haven't met a lot of superstitious Aussies but they do notice when Friday the 13th comes. That's madness. I feel like I am immune to commonwealth unlucky numbers, they mean nothing to me mwahahah.
These are delightful and cringey at the same time. 🤣🙈😬🥰🫶🏻
They're innocent figuracce due to me being very new back then 😇
I can’t imagine how many I’ve done over time in new cultures. Especially when I lived in Germany. 🤣 You can’t know what you don’t know.
Oh I know these cringissimo moments!! Just had one the other day. We'd stopped to talk with an elderly neighbour, and when it was time to leave I cheerily said "matane" (bye!). As we walked away my son lowers his tone and says to me, "Mum, I just have to let you know that 'matane' is only spoken to children, or close friends and family. You should be saying 'sayonara' or 'doumo'. " How had I not learnt this already?!
Oooohhhh the hierarchy. I didn't even think of that. Hahaha surely your neighbour appreciated the polyglot efforts. Right?
I hope so!!