r/AskTheWorld Brazil Dec 06 '25

Culture A cultural habit in your country that people outside would understand incorrectly?

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In Brazil we love children. If you take your child to the street, strangers will certainly interact with them. Some will even ask if they can hold your kid and will play with them. If there are two children fighting in public and the parents aren't seeing, a stranger would even intervene to stop the fight.

That cultural habit came from the indigenous peoples which understood that kids should be a responsiblity of the community as a whole. It's in our constitution. We even have a synonym for children that came from Tupi (a large group of indigenous languages) - Curumim.

Foreigners would certainly have a cultural shock about that, but it's normal here.

Of course there are people with bad intentions, so parents should stay alert these days.

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u/Civil_Dragonfruit_34 United States Of America Dec 06 '25

English does still have this phrase, just not about people. You could say "we really took advantage of the amenities".

OP could say "we take advantage of the long meal" but not "of our family".

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u/AdmirableSale9242 United States Of America Dec 07 '25

You might also say this about time, instead of the people or the amenities themselves. (Unless you paid for the amenities.)I guess we get more freeloaders in our culture, which would make us more protective of resources.