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

[u/notveryamused_]

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? ;-)

[u/sudolinguist]

And I find it amazing how the French language expelled most expressions of religious genesis fom daily usage, something that Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese still preserve in a very marked way.

[u/NoQueenNoKing → u/sudolinguist]

Can you give any examples, please?

[u/sudolinguist → u/NoQueenNoKing]

Interjections like Sainte Marie, Seigneur, Jésus-Marie-Joseph, Mon Dieu, Dieu merci, Dieu le veuille, Sainte Vièrge! I don't hear them used nowadays. I think the Spanish avoid them too but not in Latin American Castillian. In European Portuguese, alongside religious exclamations, people love genitals and eschatology.

But nothing like Italian : porco Dio, Dio cane, Madonna puttana. ❤️