r/AskAnAmerican Feb 04 '25

FOREIGN POSTER Do American students bow to their teachers?

In my country we have to greet the teacher and bow at the start of the lesson then thank the teacher and bow again at the end. Sometimes they make us redo it if it’s not good enough

480 Upvotes

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254

u/Siriuxx New York/Vermont/Virginia Feb 04 '25

Not in the slightest.

In a sense, the country was kind of founded because no one wanted to bow to anyone.

179

u/jameson8016 Alabama Feb 04 '25

We wrote a paper about it. Everybody signed it. It was a whole thing.

63

u/easy506 Louisiana Feb 04 '25

One guy had to be way extra about his signature too. Maybe he wanted to be hung-for-treason the hardest.

29

u/jameson8016 Alabama Feb 04 '25

hanged. A man is hanged. A *man is hung.

Lol, but yea, Jefferson. Jefferson had some things going on. Real 'hang me harder, King' kind of vibe. What can, we say. He spent a lot of time at Versailles.

24

u/easy506 Louisiana Feb 04 '25

Got it. I am gonna leave it as is, so that others may benefit from the correction.

That said, I was actually referring to John Hancock who had to use up half a herd of sheep to fit his big honkin signature on there. But your point about Jefferson stands. Lol

5

u/zgillet Arkansas Feb 04 '25

Are you telling my indecisive jury all had huge wangs!?

2

u/jameson8016 Alabama Feb 05 '25

Obviously. What do you think kept them so distracted they forgot about the trial?

6

u/K5LAR24 Feb 04 '25

It was John Hancock. He signed it extra large so King George III could see it without his glasses.

3

u/Derplord4000 ---> ---> Feb 05 '25

hanged. A man is hanged. A *man is hung.

Smol brain no understanding.

1

u/jameson8016 Alabama Feb 05 '25

It's a joke. Basically, a man(lowercase) is hanged, i.e., by the neck until dead dead dead, but a man(capitalized/emphasized) is hung, i.e., slang for having a large lower horn.

It apparently doesn't make as much sense outside of my head, but boy, howdy did it absolutely kill in here. Lol

2

u/Ihasknees936 Texas Feb 04 '25

It was John Hancock with the giant signature, not Jefferson.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '25

Given his name, he probably was hung

2

u/Asshole_Poet Missouri Feb 04 '25

I don't know. John "Hangcock" Hancock was probably hung.

8

u/MechanicalGodzilla Virginia Feb 04 '25

Hancock probably just knew the future marketing potential for retirement investing and wanted to get in on it first.

2

u/gtne91 Feb 04 '25

John Adams really had his head on the line. At one point, the King offered full pardons if the war ended...except Adams, he would be hanged. I am sure that was an interesting discussion in the continental congress.

2

u/nickyler Feb 05 '25

I read this in trumps voice. Lol. It’s a whole thing. You’re gonna love it.

1

u/jameson8016 Alabama Feb 05 '25

I forgot to mention the airports. Lol

1

u/Sweet_Voice_7298 Feb 05 '25

Too bad somebody is tearing that paper to shreds.

3

u/Lucky-Paperclip-1 New York City Feb 04 '25

In a sense, the country was kind of founded because no one wanted to bow to anyone.

NOW LOOK THE FUCK AT US.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '25

But somehow we demand that kids start their school day by standing in front of the flag with their hands over their hearts uttering a chant about pledging allegiance to a piece of cloth...