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The home pages for the Usenet newsgroup soc.culture.nordic

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Subject: 1.6 
The same procedure as last year...

[ 1995 note:
I'm including this already classic article by Lee Choquette in the FAQ. Posted some years ago, it has stood the test of time pretty well, which I suppose tells something quite fundamental about the nature of this newsgroup.

2000 note:
Well, I think the newsgroup has shed its skins so many times now, that this article ought to be one of the first to be removed. Don't expect to find it here for much longer! ]

From: Lee Choquette
Date: 24 Nov 92 11:58:18 MST

THE SOC.CULTURE.NORDIC DRINKING GAME

1

An American asks what "canulla" means. Two drinks if a Swede responds and can't figure out what the word is.

2

A heated argument erupts over whether Vikings had horned helmets, or where Santa Claus lives. Take an additional drink for each week the thread continues. The whole glass if someone draws a color-coded graph of which Internet domains believe Vikings had horned helmets.

3

Someone complains about software that strips the eighth-bit. Two drinks if it's not someone from Iceland.

4

Someone criticizes the Swedish king. Two drinks if s/he mentions the Norwegian prime minister or the 1994 Winter Olympics in the same sentence.

5

Someone relates an anecdote demonstrating the kindness and earthy humanity of the Norwegian king or his father. Two drinks if it involves mass transit.

6

You hear about the Danish prince who doesn't use mass transit. Two drinks if it's a story about a new crash.

7

There's an article about Olof Palme again. Drink the whole glass if someone actually talks about Palme's life or beliefs, not just his death.

8

An American asks about an obscure Scandinavian band, and the conversation somehow shifts to Vikingarna and how awful dansband music is. Two drinks if someone confesses to having played Vikingarna on a jukebox.

9

Jungle animals are on the loose in Finland. Two drinks if the topic turns to alcoholism in Finland.

11

Russian submarines are detected in the Stockholm archipelago. Two drinks if the topic turns to alcoholism in Sweden. Three drinks if it turns to drunk tourists in Copenhagen.

12

A genealogist to the group asks about a place one of his/her ancestors came from, and for a couple of weeks we talk about how to translate län and kommun into English.

13

An American asks what this newsgroup is for, and unwittingly sparks a flame war over the meanings of "Scandinavia" and "Skandinavien." Two drinks if the debate is instead over whether sports comes under culture.

19

The Great Whaling Debate resumes. Two drinks if it doesn't continue beyond a single article.

18

Swedish-speaking Finns are referred to as aristocrats. Two drinks if a Finland-Swede refers to his potato-farming ancestors.

17

A Finnish-speaking Finn complains about mandatory Swedish classes. Two drinks if s/he can't write in Swedish despite the classes.

26

We face the age-old question, "Why 'Italien' and 'italienare,' or 'Förenta staterna' and 'amerikanare,' but 'Finland' and 'finländare'?"

81

Finns in Sweden are portrayed as the victims of racism, ethnic cleansing, or genocide. One drink for each of the following words or phrases you see:

a.

home language or hemspråk (2 drinks for "skolbyråkratisk term");

b.

Forest Finns, skogsfinnar, or Värmland (2 drinks for Nätti-Jussi);

c.

Tornedal Finns (2 drinks if someone disputes that they are Finns);

d.

Nazi Germany, Holocaust, or the like; or

e.

Hasan B. Mutlu.

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