The Tall Poppy
For example, I was talking to an Australian guy about how sports figures are treated down there and he introduced me to the concept of the tall poppy. It sounds like the equivalent of the Japanese expression Deru kugi wa utareru (The nail that sticks out gets hammered down). In Australian culture, you don’t aggrandize yourself and take too much (or any) pride in your accomplishment. If you compete really hard and lose, that’s okay. If you win, but you downplay your victory and act humble, maybe that’s okay. But if you win, you don’t do what athletes in America do all the time. You don’t brag or trash talk or do dances.

For example, from Psychology Today:

Many Australians turned against Steve Irwin’s showmanship when he dangled his son in front of a crocodile. After Irwin died, he was enshrined in the hearts of Aussies everywhere when his father refused a state funeral for him—a sure sign of proper Australian humility.

Pronto Pups v. Corn Dogs
I learned about the rabid Pronto Pup versus Corn Dog controversy that rages at the Minnesota State Fair (held in late August).

Batter-dipped hot dogs on a stick seem to go back to the Twenties, but became popular at fairs in the early Forties. Corn dogs (with cornmeal) seem to come from the South, with Pronto Pups (with wheat) appearing in Oregon and then migrating to Chicago and Minnesota.

But what’s really important is that people practically come to blows arguing about the relative merits of the two food products at the Minnesota State Fair. I’d love to try the two side-by-side and decide for myself.

Swearing Québécois Stylee
But the pièce de résistance was learning about how Quebec French profanity. In Quebec, they have the usual scatological terms that you find in the U.S., but in Canada, those words are mild. When you’re really pissed off, you go for sacre.

As it was explained to me, this goes back to the early 19th century, when the Catholic Church was a huge influence in Quebec. Since the Sixties, the influence of the Church and religion in general has declined, but the swearing goes on.

For example, a big curse phrase is “Host of the Tabernacle,” which might be uttered as Tabernaque! I mean, seriously, that’s the kind of thing you’d yell when you’re mad. Sacrament or sac is also a big one. But then, since that’s such strong language, you can soften it. So a mother might say taberwhee. I’m probably not spelling that right — it might be tabarouette — but that’s how it sounded.

That’s hilarious to me. “Tabernacle” is such an outrageous word that we have to tone it down for the kids.

Christ and the Virgin Mary are in there, but so is “host,” “chalice” and “ciborium,” the receptacle in which the host is stored (respectively rendered as ostie, câlice and ciboire). It sounds like a 16th Century monk swearing when he breaks his quill. Here’s a video on the subject.

Madonna has claimed that the song title is actually the English translation of the first name of Yitzhak Sinwani, the Yemeni singer who appears on the track. Is she just trying to be clever?

Note this quote:

“The album isn’t even out, so how could Jewish scholars in Israel know what my song is about? I don’t know enough about Isaac Luria to write a song, though I’ve learned a bit in my studies.

“But I’ve never heard that it’s blasphemous for anyone to mention the names of catalysts. That’s just a religious organization claiming ownership of something. ‘This is our information; you’re not Jewish and you can’t know about it,’ or, ‘You’re female and you can’t know about it.’ That’s religious thinking.”

And this one:

“You do appreciate the absurdity of a group of rabbis in Israel claiming that I’m being blasphemous about someone when they haven’t even heard the record, right?” she wonders aloud. “It’s interesting how their minds work, those naughty rabbis,” she adds, with a twinkle in her eyes.

So, Madonna, who is a huge follower of Kabbalah, writes a religious song called “Isaac,” which some people mistakenly believe is about Rabbi Isaac Ben Solomon “The Lion” Luria, the 16th century scholar and mystic whose teachings revolutionized the entire Kabbalistic tradition, but the truth is that she actually named the song after her back-up singer? Right. How could people make that mistake?

I mean, it’s not like she ever courted attention through religious controversy before, right?

Some people think the song a good idea, some aren’t so happy. Commit sacrilege and risk divine punishment yourself; get “Isaac” here [link removed].