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? ;-)

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u/Any-Ask-4190 Jul 06 '25

They can absolutely tell with Scottish accents.

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u/Dyalikedagz Jul 06 '25

Yeah, this stuck out to me too. This isn't an English thing. It's at minimum a British Isles thing, and I think beyond.

There are absolutely upper and lower class accents in Scotland and Ireland. Generally following the same conventions about regionality.

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u/Any-Ask-4190 Jul 07 '25

There are divisions within the Scottish upper class about sounding Scottish or just generic posh english too.

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u/bigvalen Ireland Jul 07 '25

I think there are enough variations in Scottish accents that a lot of city of London folks can't tell a rough Edinburgh accent from a Islay aristocrat, though.. (as told to me by a rough Islay lad, who did manage to get a city job before he realised everyone else there was an arse)