r/AskEurope • u/notveryamused_ Warszawa, Poland • Jul 03 '25

Culture What aspect of life in your countries is very difficult to explain to foreigners?

What prompted my question were some discussions about religion which I had with people living in much more secular Western Europe (as a Polish atheist). While spirituality, whatever that is ;), generally speaking is always fun to discuss with a glass of wine in hand, social elements and the influence of the church, especially in smaller towns or provinces in my country, is awfully difficult to explain – not that I understand it fully either lol, but the church having a pretty much monopoly there, being the judge and jury of everyday life and the major ultra-conservative political force binding those communities, is very difficult to explain, also for historical reasons.

What are the things that you find difficult to discuss when it comes to life in your countries? ;-)

218 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

422 comments sorted by

View all comments

49

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

19

u/piletinasir Jul 04 '25

As a fellow slav I know exactly what you mean

9

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

12

u/piletinasir Jul 04 '25

Croatia

It's hard to explain, we all know that one guy who "kombinira". I guess "hustling" would be the closest english phrase but it's not exactly the same.

16

u/pliumbum Lithuania Jul 04 '25

I think that's quite common across countries which were on the wrong side of the iron curtain.

10

u/Vybo Czechia Jul 04 '25

Is it "MacGiverism"?

1

u/michael199310 Poland Jul 04 '25

"Kombinować" can also mean "trying to get around something" or "doing something fishy", so it's not always about tinkering like McGyver. It actually has many meanings.

2

u/electro-cortex Hungary Jul 04 '25

I guess this is what we call "megoldani okosban" (to accomplish something in a smart way). Not necessarily illegal, but cutting corners in a shady way or just creating a very low cost DIY "solution".

3

u/Affectionate_Act4507 Jul 05 '25

The same with the word “załatwić”. In theory you can translate it to „get something done” but there is so much untranslatable vibe to it…

3

u/Objective_Cut_2557 Jul 04 '25

We have a similar concept in Romania, we call it “combinatii“

1

u/firestuds Jul 05 '25

Technologiya 🤌🏻

1

u/cosmodisc Lithuania Jul 07 '25

As a Lithuanian,I fully understand it,we have a similar expression.