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I stumbled upon a YouTuber today that I thought I would share. She's Russian and her videos explain American culture, slang, tips and tricks. She was saying that in Russia, they are very straight forward and direct, so she teaches Russians and others these social things about America to help them interact here. I found the couple of videos I watched to be amazingly helpful! I knew some of the things she was sharing, but other things I didn't realize. Her name is linguamarina.

And Americans are much more direct than the British, I would say, following on from my one visit over there recently.

So if the Americans find the Russians direct, then what would happen when British and Russian cultures or individuals interact?

It would be interesting to find out which countries are the most direct in the world, and which are the least. Are there any more direct than the Russians, or any even more reserved than the British?

Not all of her observations are correct or complete.

Well, unless they're erasing people from pictures

As soon as I wrote that, there was an example...

She's trying to introduce alternatives to using the word 'but' too often. Here are some examples she uses, none of which are correct.

1) I liked the dinner, although I didn't like the dessert.

First of all, nobody does this. This is a perfect place for a 'but'. And the reason nobody does this, besides being awkward, is that 'although' (1) typically starts a sentence, (2) is more formal than 'though' and 'but', and (3) emphasizes a relationship that is contrary to expectations, and there isn't really any expectation to disappoint in this sentence. It also implies that the 'although' part is the expected part, which is also probably not the case in this sentence.

This is a better uses of 'although':

Although I liked the dessert, the dinner as a whole was kinda meh.


2) I liked the dinner, though I didn't like the dessert.

Has all the same problems as 'although', but is less formal so less problematic. My sentence is even better with 'though' than it is with 'although'.

3) I liked the dinner, even though I didn't like the dessert.

Strongly emphasizes a relationship that is contrary to expectation.

She's thinking of too many 'buts' as a problem with variety, but the alternatives to 'but' actually change the meaning a bit. There is variety in natural usage only because there are differences in meaning. English is a rich language, in that it offers lots of nuance. Too many 'buts' isn't a lack of variety; it's a lack of nuance.

Last edited by TenMinutes on 12 Feb 2022, 6:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

^In conversation they probably wouldn't do that, though I bet some here would. One hallmark of Asperger's is formal speech. I don't see why it's incorrect, though. To me, it's stranger to start a sentence with although and end with meh, since you're going from formal to very informal.

I did say that when I covered the second example.

Only for Americans.

Very interesting conversation! I love some points that were made, though I think some of the complaints about her ideas may be location. The entire US doesn't have the same "rules". For example, it the south they say things no one would say elsewhere, another is rural vs. big city. I do think it's great to have these things out there though. It is a great resource for autistic people of all ages especially if you, as an autistic, are trying to teach your teenager, who is also autistic. I will be sending my son to these or similar videos, just to start discussions like this one with him. Are there better resources that you've seen?