YOU KNEW IT WRONG!

I love to learn interesting things. As a former journalist, I am always after the man who bit the dog. Today I made a list of information that most people believe but which are false. In the list you might find something that you knew wrong! Have fun!

OH LA LA

What do you think about this cute French expression? I am so sure you love it and you use it! After “Oh la la” you continue your sentences with “life is beautiful, what a wonderful world, you are great” and so on! But if you ask me, with my nearly 12 years of experience in France, whenever a French person told “Oh la la” it is because something bad happened. The food burned, the cat threw up on the carpet in the center of the living room, somebody died suddenly in a brutal way, even in most cases while people are talking about “is it a possible 3rd world war” they use this expression!! Guys who made you believe “oh la la” means “life is beautiful”, trust me, they really don't know anything about French! For French people, this expression means the end of the world! Stop using it as “what a wonderful world!” The last time my neighbor used this expression, my other neighbor was talking about how her pressure cooker exploded all over in the kitchen!

NOPE THEY ARE NOT SPANISH!!!

When you go to Barcelona, do not ever tell them “how great Spain is”, tell them “how great Barcelona is” even if you wanna grab their attention and respect, tell them “I love Catalan people!” They use all kinds of Spanish entertainment for tourist attractions over there, but trust me, even on the roads, the Catalan language is the one they use! One more warning! If you go to the north of Spain, if you end up with Basque people, just act as if you were in another country!!

IRISH PEOPLE ARE NOT BIG FANS OF AMERICAN TOURISTS

When you go to Ireland, you can see many American tourists searching for their roots. Let's check the history; when the huge famine happened between 1845 and 1852, people who had money did everything to run away from the country and they went to the US. Actually many of these people died on the way, because these boats had class differences. That's why actually rich ones made them! Even though the poor ones gave all their money, in this long road, they had not much nutrition as rich families in upper class cabins. Now, when Irish people see American tourists, in their eyes these people are pilgrims. They left their country, if they survived on this road, they must have had money. Well, they don't like them much!

CORSICA IS NOT IN ITALY!

Guess what, you will be shocked, but Corsica is a French island. Even Corsicans will burn me down to tell this truth but, well it is the truth! Corsica is located in the South of France, but historically it was part of Italy... Well they don't wanna be French as much as they don't wanna be Italian. They wanna be Corsican. Trust me about it. If you meet with any Corsican people just say “Viva Corsica!”

WHERE IS ALASKA?

Definitely not in Canada! Yes Alaska, northwest of Canada and far far faaaar away from the US but they are the 49th state of the US!

THERE ARE NO PENGUINS IN ALASKA

Believe it or not, there are no penguins in Alaska. I know cold is cold, snow is snow, same kind of climate, but these little guys love to live in the south hemisphere!

RUMI WASN'T TURK

Because his shrine is in Turkey, most people think he was a Turk. Nope, he was born from a Persian family in Afghanistan!

CHAMPAGNE IS NOT A BEVERAGE NAME, IT IS A BRAND NAME!

Yes it is a brand name, not a beverage name as most people think! It was created in a region of France called Champagne. In many countries, it is illegal to officially label any product Champagne unless it both comes from the Champagne region and is produced under the rules of the appellation.

JUST LIKE CHAMPAGNE, DIJON IS A BRAND NAME!

Dijon is a city in Burgundy, France. From the name, you can understand these guys know how to make mustard. But for your information, American friends, American brand “Dijon” you eat tastes nothing like the actual Dijon mustard. If any person from Dijon tastes that American mustard, they would really feel offended!

IGLOOS ARE NOT EXACTLY ESKIMO HOUSES

They are hunting houses! Not real houses! Eskimos were not living in igloos. They were only building them when they were away from their villages. Otherwise, they had their normal houses.

TURKISH LANGUAGE IS NOT AN ARABIC LANGUAGE

Turkish is not from the Afro-Asian group of languages (I mean it is not an Arabic language). It is in the Altaic language family. The closest member of this language is Mongolian!

YEP, IRANIAN PEOPLE DO NOT SPEAK ARABIC EITHER!

The Iranian language is in the Indo-European language family. Get ready for a big shock, the Germanic languages (like English) are also branches of Indo-European!! Taaa – taaaaa!!!!

DALIDA WAS NOT FRENCH!

Oh you know that right, I hear you, you say “Yep! She was Egyptian!” Nope, not at all!! Let's see her full name : Yolanda Cristina Gigliotti. The surname rings a bell? Yes her family was Italian, because of her family's job, she was born in Cairo, Egypt.

CLEOPATRA WASN'T EGYPTIAN!

Did you know that? She was Greek actually. Cleopatra was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Macedonian Greeks.

AMERICAN PASSPORT IS NOT OPENING ALL THE DOORS!

You can not believe it but, one of the most common touristic country asks visas from American tourists! Nope, not on the border of that country! You have to go to the embassy and ask for the visa to your passport. Can you guess which country it is? Let me not make you tired, get ready for a shock! It is Egypt! I really wondered how come! Well I learned the reason from the embassy (I won't tell his name). I asked him “why is Egypt asking for a visa from American citizens?” His eyes got larger and he came a little bit closer to me and whispered “Do you know what happens if any American disappears in my country!!! They literally come and beat the crap out of my country until we find this darn lost tourist!”

BRITISH SHORT HAIR CATS DID NOT EXIST BEFORE!

Yes, they were created! It is a very interesting idea. They are the Aryan race of street cats! Somebody in England decided to collect the most beautiful street cats and start breeding them together! Today's British short hair cats are the result of the most beautiful street cats in England! They also cheated a little bit by mixing them with Persians and Russian Blue cats!

LESS COOKED / TOO MUCH COOKED

When you go to Italy, your pasta will come not much cooked, in the mean time your pizza will come over cooked crispy! That is the original way of cooking in Italy. I don't wanna piss my Italian friends but let you know, you can eat the best pizza and pasta in America! Okay I am out of here!!!

Victoria Toumit