What every country added to American culture
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- Опубликовано: 6 июн 2024
- 20 countries and what they added to American culture, from Argentina to Turkey. This video was sponsored by Surfshark. Get an exclusive @SurfsharkAcademy holiday deal! Enter promo code JJMCC to get up to 6 additional months for free at surfshark.deals/jjmcc
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Denmark arguably made the best “toy” ever with LEGO. I would be extremely impressed if you could find one person in North America (let alone the entire world) who hasn’t heard of the bricks before
No doubt its LEGO. hard to think of a more ubiquitous toy brand.
Yeah it's most likely Lego with H.C. Andersen's fairy tales coming in 2nd. With that said, I was in the US in 2019 and the sheer magnitude of 'Hygge' branding/ lifestyle literature was astounding
@@KrisserStoffer As and American, the only fairytale by H.C. Andersen I am familiar with is the Little Mermaid, and that's only because of the Disney adaptation that I understand is quite different that the book. Chiefly in its happy ending. I think the Mermaid kills herself in the book after failing to win the princes heart? I would be interested to know of some of his other famous works that maybe I did not know he wrote.
Also I have no idea what "Hygge" is. The US is a really really really big place though, so it could be that its just not a thing where I live in the Midwest. We don't get nearly as many international visitors in the interior as they do in the big urban centers on the coasts.
@@kevinvolk968 The Ugly Duckling and the Emperor's New Clothes are also by Hans Christian Andersen. Not only are the stories well known in America but they have also given expressions to the American lexicon.
@@WildCard-ze3tm Oh for sure. I didn't know he wrote those. thank you for educating me.
This is a really interesting video concept. You should also do a video about how America has influenced the culture of other nations. I think it would be really cool
Many of his videos cover that topic in some way.
He's done like six videos on that
The American influence on other countries is basically endless. America has basically built the modern world.
Japan is definitely one of the biggest examples.
@@JJMcCulloughwhy no ireland
While not your wheelhouse, one other contribution to American Culture that Austria has added is the Glock. Aside from being the most popular handgun, it has a significant cultural impact from rap music to video games.
There's even a New York Times Bestseller book about the cultural impact of the Glock. It's titled "Glock: The Rise of America's Gun", by Paul M. Barrett.
The impact being fewer living Americans. 😉
@@reddykilowatt I dunno. It's always been more trips to the range for me.
I didn't know Glocks were Austrian. There you go, they've undoubtedly had an impact on American culture
I'd rather have Mozart, and that should have been his answer. Who cares about libertarianism (sounds good in theory, but doesn't work in the real world). I'd rather have Mozart than a Glock, which isn't even that good of a handgun.
As a Georgian I'd say my country's contribution to the US culture would be in the form of George Balanchine - the man who is often dubbed as the father of American ballet and who is regarded as one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th century.
My favorite state!
@@beans00001😂
Didn't you guys invent wine? That's pretty solid
Nah. The only thing Georgia contributed to the world was Stalin and pure idi0cy. I see why Russia invaded Georgia, in order to stop the spread of Georgian idi0cy. And I don’t even support Russia or anything
Balanchine is amazing - best choreographer ever!
For Greece, I think it's very close between ancient Greek philosophy and ancient Greek mythology for which has had the bigger influence. I would give a slight edge to mythology, just because I think regular people are likely to have a more solid idea of who Zeus or Hercules are than any philosopher. But as a poli sci major, it's hard to overstate the influence that Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle have had on my academic life.
And maybe the Olympics
Personally I would've guessed political aspects of ancient Greece in terms of their function and philosophy would be the biggest influences. The monuments around DC that have become ubiquitous with political imagery are tributes to ancient Greece.
@@themurdernerd The Olympics are so international that it feels weird to call them American, but I guess a lot of things JJ talked about aren't exclusive to America.
@@tacticaljunk1608 Maybe, although actual Greek democracy worked very differently from American democracy. Greece is more of a grandparent influence, with English and French thinkers like Locke and Montesquieu being the more direct influences. That said, I do think the architecture is a good candidate.
I'd say the western world was born and raised in Greece. The west is that elderly person that grew up in Greece.
I'm not Finnish, and maybe a Finn can claim otherwise, but I would've assumed the sauna would be the biggest import from Finland. Every rec center or gym's gotta have a sauna.
Torilla Tavataan
I am a Finn and do concur with your claim. The sauna is also one of the only Finnish words that other languages have loaned from our language. Pretty gnarly!
It's either sauna or Nokia.
Personally I think their greatest contribution is that line we use to denote the end of a race. People just kept running forever before the Finns figure it out.
Nah. The only contribution Finland’s made to the world is collaboration with Germany in ww2.
Croatia - definitely the cravat. Altough it was probably brought to America by the French, it is no doubt a Croatian invention that left an enormous mark on fashion to this day
Cravat is used all over the world so it's more a worldly influence
When you say cravat you mean like a tie right? around the neck
@@AifosViruset yes
Easy win for sure.
@@AifosViruset no he means the Ustaše who were so brutal that even the Nazis thought their genocide was too violent
For Mexico: cowboy/ranchero culture. Much of the Texas and later wild west culture originated in Mexico and was later "Americanized" after the annexation of Texas and the massive increase in USA migration west into ranching country. This is especially interesting since many other countries have since identified cowboy culture as a distinctly "American" thing
Didn’t that come from Spain?
the cowboy culture originated in Paraguay. They just rephrase it as tending to animals on horseback to say it originated in Mexico
@erica.7231 That may be true, but our gateway to those things came through Mexico.
Thank you Mexico. Yeehaw
Nooo, Cowboy culture comes straight from Andalusia, a region in Spain. That’s also where you’ll find the original rodeos (rodeo being a Spanish word)
For Morocco, I'd probably say Argan Oil as it's primarily produced in the country. Argan Oil has become a quite common ingredient in shampoos. There's also the film "Casablanca" which many Americans gravitate to as the first thought of the Morocco, but it's more of film set in the country rather than one about the country.
Good ones!
We're also pretty obsessed with the tajine.
For sure Argan oil. It's everywhere now in hair care products here.
Morocco is first country to recognize American independent
@@ibrahimmohammedibrahim9273and the first visited country by a US President
As a Brazilian, i do agree with Bossa Nova being our biggest cultural influence, but we do not use or ever used maracas in our music. It's mostly a Cuban instrument. The high pitched shrilling you hear in samba and bossa nova usually comes from a percussive instrument called Caxixi.
Caxixi; is that another name for the cuica? Not sure I spelled it right, but I love the sounds it makes.
@@MrRezillo no, different animal lol the cuica is pretty amazing. The caxixi is very similar to the maracas, but it's built and played different. It's usually seen used alongside the berimbau
@@utubedosal Okay; thanks. I do know what a berimbau is, LOL.
@@MrRezillo if you like the cuica, you'll love the berimbau. It's what you hear in capoeira music
Viva o Samba! No really, Samba is the best.
Ukraine's most significant contribution to the American culture (to the American Christmas songs canon in particular) was in form of Carol of the Bells which was based on Ukrainian Christmas song called Shchedryk.
I would also add Ukrainian Easter eggs, chicken Kiev, and contributions to art in the form of peasant realism.
That is sort of that "pizza is not actually Italian" kind. In Ukraine itself, it was one of many songs in slowly but steadily dying folk tradition, i feel nobody but ethnographists would know this song in Ukraine if not for "Home Alone" and its fallout.
Statements stand true though, Carrol of the Bells is as ukrainian as it gets in the US, without any disputes from Polish and Russsian sides.
Could you make a part 2 with some other countries? This was a great idea for a video!
i'd definitely love to see countries like china, spain, the netherlands and mexico
yes!!!
I would like to add the Irish with the folklore around Leprechauns and the export of the holiday St. Patrick's Day. Look no further than Lucky Charms for the Leprechauns influence here.
St Patrick's Day is Irish, but 'celebrating' it has American origins.
Not just leprechauns, but fairies in general
Yup, I was looking for this comment. Most of the "modern" aspects of St. Patrick's Day are American rather than Irish, similarly to Hallowe'en. @@RBzee112
I think that Halloween is the biggest Irish cultural export to America, even bigger than St. Patrick's Day and leprechauns.
@@RBzee112 They do celebrate it, but its way more religious, and less drinking green beer til you puke. They actually celebrate the man, and his life rather than just the broad concept of being Irish.
For Belgium, it might be the saxophone invented by the Belgian Adolphe Sax. The saxophone is almost synonymous with jazz music, a quintessential American genre.
Not fries/waffles?
@@NeelLLumi-AnCatDubh J.J. excluded all food. So no fries or waffles unfortunately 😉
@@burten8800 Oh. Comics then, especially the Smurfs
@@NeelLLumi-AnCatDubh or Tintin!
@@burten8800Astrix en Obelix too. (I think)
I addition to rugs, I think Turkey also added ottomans (the foot rest) to America. You see them in just about everyone's houses and are a staple to everyone's living room. Thanks Turkey. 🇹🇷
Uruguay's greatest contribution to American culture is probably canasta, a four-person card game invented in the clubrooms of Montevideo in the 1940s and became something of a midcentury craze, rivalling the popularity of bridge.
Nobody in America has ever heard of that. Uruguay’s great contribution to the world was taking in German n@zis!
I never knew Canasta came from Uruguay! Very cool! I will have to share this next time I play, thanks for sharing
@@jeremylewis6200 No. Uruguay’s only world contribution was taking in war criminals from Germany after ww2.
No sabía que la canasta era uruguaya! Pero tiene sentido para la vibra de montevideo
For Norway - if I am not mistaken - lusekofte / Marius genser and their patterns are often seen on Christmas sweaters, even "ugly" Christmas sweaters.
Lutefisk or stock fish is also Spanish and found all over Europe. American Norwegians eat it to remember the suffering of ancestors. I'd argue for culture that the Norwegian brouge is infamous. For something more modern relevant like lakes culture in general is steeped in Scandinavians culture.
For Norway = Black Metal
@@BearOldcastleas someone from Minnesota there is a lot of culture that people from Sweden and Norway brought over here lutefisk is a very iconic dish here especially with the older people pickled fish is pretty popular here as well you also see the flags of Norway and Sweden here mostly on peoples docks on the lake you’ll also see Denmark and Finland flag here but not as much as Norway and Sweden
Interesting - could this influence be extended to the fashion for riotously colored and patterned sweaters in the '80s and '90s - which is usually referred to as the "Cosby" sweater? Or would that be more due to the Nigerian fashion influence JJ mentioned?
Nah. The only thing Norway contributed to the world was collaborating with the axis in ww2. YIKES!
2:16 🇦🇷Argentina🇦🇷
3:21 🇦🇺Australia🇦🇺
4:14 🇦🇹Austria🇦🇹
5:39 🇧🇷Brazil🇧🇷
6:26 🇪🇬Egypt🇪🇬
7:09 🇫🇷france🇫🇷
10:20 🇩🇪Germany🇩🇪
11:53 🇮🇳India🇮🇳
13:11 🇮🇩Indonesia🇮🇩
14:09 🇮🇹Italy🇮🇹
15:00 🇯🇵Japan 🇯🇵
15:26 🇳🇬Nigeria🇳🇬
16:31 🇯🇲Jamaica🇯🇲
17:57 🇷🇺Russia🇷🇺
19:16 🇸🇦Saudi Arabia🇸🇦
20:09 🇿🇦South Africa🇿🇦
21:17 🇰🇷 South Korea🇰🇷
21:53 🇸🇪Sweden 🇸🇪
22:22 🇹🇷turkey 🇹🇷
This should be the top comment
Surprise indonesia in, should've been the Philippine
@@gerydbanother Pinoy thirsty for mentions of the Philippines by a foreigner
I would question the Swedish one, because Ikea is very well known, but I think the biggest impact is still pop music, which is largely impacted by Swedish producers and song writers.
I would argue pop music too
While Sweden does definitely punch way above its weight in the pop music department, IKEA's influence is still way stronger, though. It's not just as a company that its influence is felt, but almost as a cultural institution and the producer of a whole era of homogenous house decor all over the world.
You wanna go down the nightmare whole, Sweden was one of the largest participants of the trans Atlantic slave trade. Since the catholics were banned from transporting slaves and England also cracked down on it, much of the slave trade in the 1700s was done by Swedish merchants.
@@juanpabloperezgomez4349There really aren't many Ikea stores outside of the biggest cities. We don't have one in New Orleans, for example, and that's 450 miles.
Don't forget Minecraft.
This is honestly a brilliant idea for a series. As another suggestion, you could also do videos on what aspect of culture is unique to each state. Though if you do, I wish you the best of luck trying to find anything interesting about Delaware.
Screen doors??
That's just a northeastern thing@@JJMcCullough
If he wants to get back into Can-splaining, he can do the same for Canada's provinces and territories (though it would be interesting to see him distinguish the 3 territories).
The president is from Delaware
Surely it would be Delaware corporations
As a Puerto Rican I'm always impressed by how common our music artists are. Every place I go here in the states I always end up hearing a puerto rican artist.
That's what usually happens in the colony-colonist relationship.
Considering Puerto Rico is a Us Territory and has a large pouplation in the states( i myself am half Puerto Rican) this isn't that suprising.
If you're Puerto Rican you're an American.
I think that it's important to mention that France gifted the US one of its most recognizable landmarks i.e. The Statue of Liberty
That was what I was going to say in the first draft
Its most recognizable landmark
@JJMcCullough fun fact France forged the head about 5 years before the statue got started, but it took years and lots of donations from American benefactors to get the statue built. It's designed and forged in France but the USA mostly footed the bill.
I'd argue French language made its impact in broader American English far earlier given the Norman influence on English as a language. By the time it had come over to the Americas, French vocabulary was very much baked in to the language at that point.
Norwegian French, the best French.
Americans do pronounce a lot of things the French way though, where the English don't as much
@@theangel666100which is funny, since when it comes to spelling, the British have kept a lot of hints of French and Latin etymology that the Americans have gotten rid of, most famously things like the U in colo(u)r and the S/Z distinction in realis/ze.
Is the French influence pronouncing Target as “Tar-jay”? 😂
French influence also comes from Cajuns in Louisiana, and Acadian/French-Canadian immigrants in the Northeast. Detroit, Baton Rouge, Marquette, Lafayette, Dubuque, Eau Claire, Duluth, Cape Girardeau, Portage, Montpelier, Beaumont, Des Moines, Coeur D’Alene, Fremont, Reno, La Verne, and city names ending in -ville are French names. St. Louis is named after a French king best known for his participation in the Crusades, and New Orleans is named after the city of Orleans in France. Cadillac luxury cars are named after a French explorer who explored present-day Detroit. But the most prominent French contribution to American culture would be the Statue of Liberty, which was designed by a French sculptor, the copper forged in France, assembled over there, disassembled, shipped to the United States, and reassembled in New York, as a gift from France to the United States symbolizing their friendship since the American Revolution, as France helped the revolutionaries in America defeat Great Britain and gain independence.
I think Brazil’s biggest export to America is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts in general. They and more specifically the Gracie family effectively created the UFC.
Music from Brazil is clearly the #1 influence. In sports, soccer would be 1st. Jiu jitsu impact is relevant, but quite recent.
I just don't like the thumbnail depiction of a Maraca (musical instrument). Various types of Chocalho (shaken percussion) are present in music from Brazil, but not maracas in particular. I would suggest a pandeiro instead.
Nah. Brazil’s great contribution to the world was taking in n@zis from Germany.
@@andrebastos1598 Nah. Brazil’s great contribution to the world was taking in n@zis from Germany.
@@andrebastos1598Agreed about the maracas. They are mostly a symbol of Caribbean music, not Brazilian. A pandeiro would definitely be better.
Anime and manga could be an alternate entry for Japan's influence on the United States
It's all pretty much the same thing. Entertainment culture.
I think far less people consume those than games
I'd say manga and anime in the U.S. took a while to make an impact on popular culture, with the exception of shows like Astro Boy and Speed Racer, there weren't that many mainstream anime until the late 90s. I think nowadays anime is much more mainstream in the U.S. and you can feel its influences on shows and movies for example.
I agree with J.J that Japanese video game had a great impact, though I would have mentioned some of the old monster movies like Godzilla and Gamera
@@JJMcCullough While true, I would argue that Japanese media in general has historically been consumed heavily by those in the United States that produce American media. Taking film for instance, with Star Wars being heavily inspired by Kurosawa films, the Matrix from Ghost in the Shell, and Avatar from Ghibili. So Japanese media indirectly, heavily influences American (and global) media.
@@JJMcCullough How about consumer electronics as a whole?
I live in Vienna, Austria and you are absolutely right about the fact that Austrian Economic philosophy is not popular.
Is it even acknowledged there?
It's not that popular here. Only far right conservatives, moderate ones like myself realize while some things may sound good in theory, they don't work in real life.
Austrian economics are among the worst things Austria has ever exported to the world. The whole thing is hideous. I mean, it's not THE worst thing, that honor goes to the failed art student with the moustache, but it's a close second.
@@davidsenra2495 Wasn't really trying to assess it one way or another. I don't know economics. I just wanted to know if Austrians were aware or still thought about the fact that an important economic theory came from them, or if it just faded into a weird history fact that Austrians don't care about.
@@insertnamehere3106 maybe it's not publicly acknowledged out of embarrassment haha
It's difficult to attribute much to African countries given that most of them have only been around for about 70 years or so, but I feel like Kenya is very deeply associated with the culture of the safari, not just going on a safari, but also a certain fashion style associated with it.
Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa are still the most stereotypical safari places to this day
Yes! I've even seen Kenyan style art sold in the US as "safari art". The exact same kind I saw on roadside shops and Maasai markets when I got to visit Kenya. What I have seen sold here as been at small farmers markets and art sales by African artists but there is some style elements you can see in mass produced art and clothing
The only thing Africa brought to the world was eb0la.
The banjo, which is a staple of that quintessentially American music genre, bluegrass, came from African Americans...I know that's not the same thing, but it's really hard to pinpoint specific countries or tribes because of slavery...
I'd love to see a video like this about what various indigenous nations have contributed to contemporary culture.
Interesting idea! It would have the bonus of helping folks realize which nation handed down which tradition and/or cultural item.
Maple Syrup (it’s associated more with Canada, but it’s also American too), kayaking, state names (Ohio, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Utah, Iowa, Michigan, Idaho, Wisconsin, Dakotas, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, Wyoming, Oregon, Illinois), city names (Seattle, Chicago, Miami, Tallahassee, Tucson, Tuscaloosa, Natchez, Chattanooga, Akron, Ocala, Tulsa, Biloxi, Wichita, Omaha, Temecula, Lompoc, Napa, Sonoma, Yakima, Tacoma, Missoula, etc.), pumpkins, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, etc. The U.S. constitution is partially based on the Haudenosaunee Confederation’s constitution, and Oklahoma’s constitution was copied word-for-word from the Sequoyah (indigenous state)‘s constitution.
Paraguay with one of the only countries in South America or maybe only as an indigenous language as the state recognized official language
Our democratic system was based on the Iroquois confederacy. Canoeing and kayaking. Surfing (in Hawaii). Snowshoes. Lacrosse (not that many people play it though). That's just what I know about, and I'm no expert.
@@eazydee5757 As for foods, also chocolate and vanilla, from the Aztec and Totonac peoples, respectively.
Two more culural additions:
- From Germany: Autobahn/the freeway and airplanes with jet-engines
- From Japan: corporate efficiency (Kaizen: Japanese: 改善, "improvement")
- From Switzerland: Nestle/Nescafe, confederation (first 10 years of the USA), right to bear arms (2nd ammendment), and Alpine ski resorts
Right to bear arms? That's was always part of the classical liberal ideology
I see you're saving Mexico for part 2, its absence can very much be felt
Cartel?
@@I_WANT_MY_SLAW It's obviously vaqueros/cowboys, which is how most of the world stereotype the US.
I also feel it, I know food is not part of this but I feel like the Mexican contribution of alcoholic beverages are very much part of the American cultural cannon. The amount of celebrities with tequila and mezcal brands is unbelievable considering in Mexico it’s a cheap liquor and how Mexican beer has become so prevalent that modelo and coronas are served outside of Mexican restaurants is astonishing.
@@duccksuu God bless Mexico for still producing cheap but drinkable beer when all the big American brewers have given up
There's way too much to mention for mexico
I love this idea of countries all over the world being entangled culturally with eachother. Brilliant video idea, JJ!
I'd say another one for Brazil could have been mixed martial arts. MMA is probably the most popular new sport in America.
Yes, what i was thinking. Could even group MMA and BJJ together. It's personally how i know as much about Brazil as I do.
Nah. Brazil’s great contribution to the world was taking in n@zis from Germany.
@@FulkNerraIII Nah. Brazil’s great contribution to the world was taking in n@zis from Germany.
BJJ 💯
@@ChronicTheHempHog-mf3nh No. Brazil’s only contribution to the world is drug gangs.
I nominate this video for the _GREATEST VIDEO ON EVERY COUNTRY'S ADDITIONS TO AMERICAN CULTURE_ category!!! For all time, this shall be an *AWARD WINNING VIDEO* !!!
China has obviously had a huge cultural impact on the United States. However, while trying to narrow it down to just 1 thing I realized that most were brought via Europe (such as gunpowder). So I chose to focus exclusively on cultural exports that traveled across the pacific directly to the United States, and the biggest thing I came up with was Kung-Fu / Wuxia.
Yes, I was surprised he didn't mention Kung Fu!
Particularly the movies. Kung fu movies were so popular in the American black community in the 70s that the afro wearing black man doing kung fu became a major trope in itself.
What about, dare I say it, Tik Tok? Its one of the most importnat and worst imports from China ever.
Nah. China never touched the US in terms of influence. The only thing China has contributed to the world is w@r crimes against Uyghurs!
@@Torus2112 Yes indeed! Though there were plenty of white kung fu movies/fans. Like that Cain guy, lol
I would say another huge impact Nigeria has had on American culture is that when people think of an African accent, their minds immediately go to the more or less standard Nigerian pronunciation of English. For instance, T’challa/Black Panther in the MCU is an American actor approximating a Nigerian accent, and this happens pretty constantly
Nigerians are one of the largest African immigrant groups in USA. So usually the only actual Africans we really see are Nigerians and sometimes Kenyans at least were I live. Most black people are either African American and or from the Caribbean.
@@jacobjones4766 Yeah, I don’t disagree with any of that. I mean, stereotypes (both good and bad) start for a reason, and the most common stereotypes are generally, “People from over there sound funny in a very specific way.”
I often wonder if Africans are annoyed by this? You know, in much the same way Southerners are annoyed by actor’s sloppy attempts to do their accents, or the way people overemphasize “Soary” and “Eh?” When pretending to be Canadian.
@@jacobjones4766Nigerians don’t go to the US. They go to Canada.
@@jacobjones4766since we have discovered you’re talking about Canada. NOT the US. Edit your comment to say “Canada” and NOT “USA”.
@@anonymoususer8895 I'm not talking about Canada. And don't tell me what to do.
I think the Austrian waltz is more influential to how Americans dance at weddings than the tango.
Are people still waltzing?
@@JJMcCulloughI think people aren't really doing either, but tango would probably edge it out slightly in terms of relevance
Do they count in 3 or 4 when dancing?
@@JJMcCulloughabsolutely yes. Mostly country music dancers, but at weddings and formal dances people do "ballroom style" waltzes.
@@raiisleepno, a LOT of people waltz, it's a country music thing
I love this analysis, J.J., your cultural canon series is always so well-researched and clearly communicated. I'd love to see this series continue. I'm teaching a class on American culture to Chinese university students and I often take inspiration for my lessons from your videos. This is one of my favorite channels, you've got quite a unique voice on a uniquely global culture. Happy New Year!
You know that you are in different bubbles that when Sweden was mentioned i instantly thought of Minecraft and not Ikea, probably because Ikea isn't even a thing in Mexico, there's only 2 stores and both are in Mexico city.
I'm American, but I thought of Minecraft too
I was going to say music for Sweden. But I guess a lot of Americans don't know that most pop music in the US is influenced by or outright produced by Swedish people.
H&M, Volvo, spotify, Skype
This was a very interesting video, and I'd love to see a sequel of sorts someday! Personally, 3 more examples that come to mind are Legos (Denmark), calypso music (Trinidad & Tobago), and guinea pigs (Peru).
This is a very interesting video series. I think Spain and Mexico should have been here. For Spain, like France, the Spanish language has a huge cultural impact. Things like city/state names (Los Angeles, California for example), Spanish words being adopted (like bronco, lasso, or rodeo), and generally hearing or seeing Spanish like reading a sign written in both English and Spanish or hearing an announcement in a public place in both languages. For Mexico, my guess is music like mariachi or ranchero. Cowboy culture as a whole to be honest as much of the West was Mexico
For Spain the choice is pretty tricky, but the whole cultural strata that its presence in the country has left would probably be mine. If you had to make it even more precise, I'd say to say geographical names of all kind of features, from whole states (Colorado, Montana, Arizona...) and cities big (Los Ángeles, San Antonio, El Paso...) and small, as well as too many landmarks to count.
@@juanpabloperezgomez4349 I would agree with with you. I can also see music being a close second. Spain did invent Spanish guitar after all.
Ring pops are still very much around (at least in USA), and they're still quite popular. They're always the first candy to go when we do bingo at the community center.
Would have been curious to see a breakdown of English, Welsh Scottish and Irish culture and what they have brought to Canada and the USA
Why Canada? Canada has they’re own identity. Stop associating the failed state of Canada with the flourishing hyper power of America.
England- bill of rights
Scotland- Capitalist economic theories of Adam Smith, bagpipes, and arguably our frontier culture and fighting spirit
Ireland-Catholicism, police culture , political cultures and political bossism
For all three evangelical Protestantism as England was home of Methodist founder John Wesley who was very much an evangelical along with other figures from each region.
As for Wales, I’m not as sure.
Definitely! England's influence on America alone is obviously huge and goes far beyond the language. I know things like suits and wedding dresses come from England as well as the original Thanksgiving and the precursor to football (rugby) and lots of other sports. But it'd be interesting to see this explored more. The explicit connections seem to be not discussed very much in favor of the new waves of people groups.
@@jameschambers2349 No. England’s only contribution is collaborating with Germany in WW2 by King Eddie.
@@TheBrunohusker No. The British Isles’ only contribution is collaborating with Germany in WW2 by King Eddie.
Uruguay had as much an important role in the development of tango as Argentina did, in fact some of the most famous and recognisable tango songs were made by Uruguayan composers.
Oh they're basically the same place.
@@JJMcCulloughThis comment has gained you the admiration of all Argentines and the ire of all Uruguayans.
Interestingly, Argentina and Uruguay have a similar relationship as Canada and the US. Uruguay, as Canada, hates their bigger neighbor and takes every opportunity to explain frantically how different they are. They also have a non-spanish speaking minority of portuguese speakers in the north somewhat similar to French in Canada, although not as present in government. The population ratio is also the same as Argentina roughly has 10x more population.
@@JJMcCulloughjust look at their economic performance and reconsider.
@@JJMcCullough yeah but successful
Ahh que divertido ver un uruguayo dolido 🤣 te guste o no, los conocidos somos nosotros. A ustedes no los juna nadie 🤣🤣
Surely Arnold Schwarzenegger is Austria’s greatest contribution to the US?
For Spain, I think it's quite obviously the Spanish language. It's cultural importance is so clear that I think nobody in America would even doubt that it is the second most important language in the continent. We don't even have to include words like Taco or expressions and lifestyles that come from Latiamerican immigrants, I think that the names of places is enough: California, Los Ángeles, San Francisco, Montana, Colorado, Oregón, Texas, etc.
You could also argue that the whole Columbus thing is Spanish. Spain had an enormous role in shaping colonial history in all the continent, possibly the second biggest role of any country other than England in the US atleast.
Very surprised Ireland wasn't given a mention at all considering the impact that it has had for its relative size. Influencing such things as Canada's own ice hockey with its sport of hurling, making Halloween and it's traditions a mainstay, having tonnes of Influence both in the political realm and also in police forces, cities thousands of miles away from Ireland having their own Patrick's day festivals, the submarine, whiskey being a popular drink (Scotland have this claim also), many slang terms coming from the Irish language, the symbol for good luck being a four leaf clover, many cultural depictions of leprechauns, Bluegrass music being influenced by Irish traditional music, an Irish man designed the white House, Irish pubs being a fixture in US drinking culture etc...
Very hard to narrow it down to just one thing
I think the Irish claim to have “influenced” a lot of things with sometimes rather dubious evidence. Like Halloween. But I agree about Irish pubs and general “luck” culture.
@@JJMcCulloughYou really dislike Ireland, I think!
@@JJMcCullough Bizarre how much of a vendetta you have against Ireland
@@fiachrao8748what? He made a fine point, he was even generous in a way as most pubs aren’t uniquely Irish at all.
I think he skipped Irealand do get responses. I'm glad you took the time to fill us in
this is such a good idea for a video!! i'd love to see a deeper dive on the histories of major immigrant groups and the impact they have had on the culture - even just in canada.
also jj's videos always have such interesting comments sections and i always try to read them all, but even after an hour i know this is gonna be one of the best! i can't wait to come back in a couple of days to see everyone's ideas!
love this! you should do another one of these with another batch of countries!
Great video. I’ve noticed over the years you’ve made almost no reference the Irelands influence on North America. I find it surprising that it’s obviously something you have not encountered, but I see it everywhere with so many Irish American institutions
What would be an example?
Drinking. I'm pretty sure the concept of drinking alcohol until you got wasted is an Irish invention.
It seems most of those are American ideas of what we think of Ireland. St Patrick's Day parades are an American thing imported back to Ireland.
@@I_WANT_MY_SLAWNorwegians and Germans would like a word or several drinks.
@JJMcCullough Irish cops of the east coast is a common sight to this day. Even in the Midwest. Irish shanties are played in Bars Boston. Irish wool sweaters heavily influenced textiles culture in the US. Irish philosophy and literature is still common in American schools.
For Japan I'm suspired you didn't mention anime as well as that has been a huge influence in the USA, especially with its rise to almost mainstream status in the 2010s and 2020s.
Yeah that is a gigantic oversight but JJ hasn't played games since the 80's so that not surprising
Honestly, anime still isn’t super mainstream. It’s growing and there are some anime that just about everyone has at least a small degree of familiarity with, but it’s still pretty niche. Japan’s video game influence is much larger.
@@SomeYank9 It on every major streaming platform so while people might be embarrassed to admit watching. Not to mention all the people buying the merch. So its pretty mainstream.
@@southcoastinventors6583 Even still, it’s not nearly as mainstream as something like Nintendo. You mentioned merchandise, but I see way more Nintendo merch than anime merch on a daily basis. Also, I’m not sure why you said JJ hasn’t played games since the 80s. That implies that Japanese games aren’t as popular now as they were then. They’re more popular, and there is no sign of that decreasing.
@@SomeYank9 While not at the same levels as video games or baseball, it is getting there and the idea of anime/manga/weeb culture in general is starting to be less niche and more and more mainstream. I mean just two decades ago it was black and white to now 2024 in how anime is seen and understood. Back in the day it was a thing for nerds and virgin losers and now all the cool kids watch anime and want in on it. It's slowly getting more and more popular here in the USA.
As a Swede living in FL having lots of furniture from ikea in the US is viewed as cheep but not so much in actual Sweden. There’s levels of quality in ikea, also lots of Swedes use the renovation services offered!
Love this video concept would be cool to have a series with more detail. Much appreciated
No. You and those Swedes live in Canada. Quebec specifically.
Since we have discovered you’re in Quebec, Canada with all those other Swedes, edit your comment to say “QC” and NOT “FL” since you and those Swedes actually live in Quebec.
Hearing Swedish IKEA offer a renovation service evokes the opening scene of Fight Club where Edward Norton is obsessing over having a complete furniture set for his apartment.
As a Swede, cheapness and conformity sound very much Jantelagen-compatible, so I won't complain. Although I would argue our greatest cultural impact on contemporary American culture is through songwriters like Max Martin and Shellback, who are relatively behind-the-scenes, but write an astonishing number of the most popular pop songs for all the biggest American artists, such as the most popular songs by Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5, The Weeknd and many, MANY more.
Thank you for discounting food! It's nice to see something different when discussing culture
A surprising cultural impact from Switzerland ... is actually comics, American comics developped at first in the 19th century through the influence of Histoire de M. Vieux Bois or in English The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck by Swiss Romand creator Rodolphe Töpfer. So knowing how eventually Comics became a huge creator of cultural icon this is not the least important of contributions.
When Freud came along, I thought: what could have been more influential from Austria to America than psychoanalysis?! But then you really delivered. Nice vid!
There actually is somewhat of a community of Indonesian descent located around Los Angeles. These were people that were half Indonesian and half Dutch, that were discriminated and prosecuted by both Indonesian society and Dutch society, after the Second World War and the decolonization of Indonesia. Some of these people stayed in The Netherlands, and some went to Los Angeles to deliberately try to found an "Indo" community and culture. Writer Tjalie Robinson was a main figure in this movement. Eventually, the project failed, but to this day there is still a significant "Indo" community in and around Los Angeles.
Nah. Tjalie Robinson and those Indonesians went to Vancouver, British Columbia, in Canada. Not Los Angeles.
Since we have discovered you’re talking about Canada, edit your comment to say “Vancouver” in Canada and NOT “Los Angeles”.
Also, nice try euro, but Austria’s greatest contribution to the world was Ad0lf and the Netherlands’ greatest contribution was collaborating with him in ww2. YIKES.
I thought he would say the Glock or the Pez dispenser.
Yet again, you've covered a fascinating topic
The Java programming language was named after coffee to connote the design goals of being fast, innovative, and peppy. JavaScript was named to capitalize on the associations that the development had with powerhouse code shop Sun Microsystems; the JS project was originally called Mocha as a tribute to Java's coffee theme, but then renamed much more explicitly near the end of the development project. And sadly, we never got the LISP/Scheme-driven browsers that were used in the very early design phases.
Other choices are Spain, Portugal, The Netherlands, Yugoslavia (or it's component nations), Greece, Israel, Vietnam, Morocco, Belgium, China, Poland, Thailand, Peru, and Chile.
Also, since you did include Jamaica, here are some more that are arguably really part of North America; Mexico, Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Martinique.
The Netherlands was the country behind the CDs apparently, but I would assume most people in The Netherlands assume CDs to be a Japanese invention.
Happy New Year J.J! Hope 2024 is a great one for everyone and as a long time fan of the channel I hope it’s continues to get better and better. You’re a Canadian icon!
Estonia is not a large country, so its contribution to the American culture isn't too large, but I think the biggest cultural contributions are in the field of modern classical music, with several composers and conductors well known by people interested in contemporary classical music.
Skype too!
Another contribution, which might be more mainstream and relevant, is Starship Technologies with their delivery robots in American college campuses, and Walmart pick-up towers by Cleveron.
I was thinking what could Estonia have contributed. I mean, I'd say Skype 🤣
Nah. Estonia’s contribution to the world is collaborating with the Germans in WW2. YIKES!
@@anonymoususer8895 Reddit is down the hall on the left
5:39 before even getting to the Brazil segment I already knew Bossa Nova was going to be there. Another country that was influenced a lot by Brazilian music is also Japan!
Bossa Nova and the Brazilian MPB (Brazilian Pop Music, which tried to purge some foreign musical elements to develop a proper Brazilian music) were brought to Japan during their economic boom, which attracted Nippon-Brazilians to immigrate. They influenced a lot of Japanese 70s and 80s music with it (City Pop and the jazz scene from there). I had a friend that visited Japan this summer and was very surprised to find convenience stores playing not just bossa nova, but songs sung in Portuguese.
Brazil-Japan both share diasporas populations that began in the early 20th century so it was always a place that was in the collective imagination for them. You can see that in some 80s-90s Japanese videogames for countries to be represented there’s the presence of a Brazilian character (even if heavily stereotyped with many cultural objects from Peru and Mexico).
That's fascinating. This explains Blanka AND the Katamari soundtrack!
That’s so cool. I feel like what JJ was talking about in regards to America was just a vaguely bossa nova inspired style of music rather than the thing, but it sounds like that isn’t necessarily the case in Japan?
@@georgehenderson-walshe1592it's a little bit of both.
Japan and Brazil have a very interesting relationship, I remember hearing that the most famous Brazilian person in Japan is the late F1 racer Ayrton Senna. When a poll was conducted in Japan about the most influential people in history outside Japan, Senna ranked over others such as Abraham Lincoln
@@JJMcCullough Katamari OST is so good!
I am surprised you didn't mention China. There is large Chinese diaspora in the States and Canada, also the food and martial arts have been part of America for some time. The stereotype that most cheap product are made in China and the modern "cold war".
I think JJ is saving countries like China, Mexico, The UK and others for another video
Really fun video, I'd love to see a part two
Edit: I stand corrected but here's my original comment anyway:
My guess as to how New-Zealand exists in the American imagination is as a super-duper natural happy country, which is largely an image we’ve cultivated in order to sell agricultural products e.g. honey, wine, dairy and, of course, wool. There’s also Flight of the Conchords, which reinforces the idea of Aotearoa as an isolated and backward island (not to say I don’t love FOTC).
For many Americans, New-Zealand is the Lord of the Rings place
@@chrise4164 Yeah I think it's mostly Lord of the Rings
New Zealand…. There’s Vikings there Right?
Interesting choice for Sweden. Especially when it has to be compared to things like Dynamite, Spotify, soundcloud, Minecraft, Nobel Prize, and Pewdiepie (internet celebrities in general)
The UK is obviously one of (if not THE) most important countries when it comes to shaping American culture. When it comes to more recent culture, however, I'd say one of their most important exports has been music. So many bands and musicians (The Beatles, Queen, Elton John, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, The Who, Radiohead, Oasis, Gorillaz, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Adele, the list goes on and on) from the UK are insanely popular, iconic, and/or influential in America.
I was torn between the music and the language. The thing with the music is that there has always been a lot of two way inspiration between America and the UK. Many artists were inspired by their musical counterparts on the opposite side of the Atlantic. Punk was definitely a development of the times in the UK. Heavy Metal is also a UK development, but without the influence of American rock music band like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath may not have progressed beyond blues and folk rock. But most other genres of UK music formed from the transatlantic cross pollination of music.
@@niebieskaniania I specified "recent" culture.
As for "recent", the World Wide Web was created by an Englishman and has had a huge impact on American culture.
@@electricpizza5774 Indeed, to the extent that it will probably be what destroys us. We should have never let that British poison onto our beautiful Internet.
Awesome, J.J., please do a part 2!!
Great concept for a video, I hope you continue the series with other countries soon! Some ideas:
Czech Republic - Beer (Budweiser was inspired by a trip to Bohemia)
Finland - Linux, Nokia
Peru - Llamas
Denmark - Legos
Poland - Polka music, revolutionaries (Kosciuszko, Pulaski)
Bangladesh - Clothing
A really interesting and informative video, as usual!
But I couldn't believe you included Brazil, without even mentioning the waxes or butt lifts...and Saudi Arabia without the 1,001 Nights fable (which gave us the Aladdin character as well as flying carpets and genies in lamps/bottles).
But my biggest disappointment was not even mentioning Mexico, whose words and culture make up so much of the SW American culture of cowboys and rodeos!
In my first draft, I was going to mention the waxes instead of the Bossa Nova but I thought that was too degrading to the proud people of Brazil.
@@JJMcCullough I can see that...but it's ubiquitous; if someone says "brazilian" most everyone thinks of the wax job, and/or the butt lift.
I'm a NZer and I think our biggest influence might be our pop culture.
Peter Jackson and Taika Waititi are some of the world's most beloved filmakers creating some of the most popular movies ever made like Lord of the Rings and Thor: Ragnarok.
My top 3 favourite such movies would be the Lovely Bones, Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Jojo Rabbit. Highly recommend them.
Not to mention, the Americans love filming down here for super cheap even if the movie's not about this country.
There's more I could mention but that's just what comes to mind.
I think that discounting the effect of Peter Jackson the best tourism add one could create would be "New Zealand...We are nothing like Australia...Honest"
Weta Workshop as well.
Your videos are so fasinating. I feel like I'm learning so much fun trivia alongside the broader and more expansive knowledge from your channel lately. That makes learning from you is fun as well as genuinely thought provoking.
Really great video!, J.J. ! Nice kickoff to the new year. Looking forward to the next round!I remember those ring pops. We sold those at the drugstore where I worked. Thanks, and Happy New Year to you! 😊
I know you're talking about specifically how Italy has affected American culture, but Italy has always been known for their high art and culture. They have long been known for jewelry and specifically gold chain specifically, a traditional form of wealth and luxury, but even going back to the renaissance which was created by the fact Italy had a bunch of rich guys who put nice stuff every where going back to the 1500's. Italy is traditionally a place of luxury befitting the physical successor to Rome
Traditionally, Italian influence on America is most visible with the the influence of Southern Italian and Sicilian immigration, which makes the US a bit of an anomaly in how Italy is viewed. This is not to disagree with your points, but to explain that even as Americans learn about Ancient Rome, and the Renaissance, Florentine art/literature, Venetian trade, etc., it feels more like a textbook academic sort of learning then the popular culture views Americans tend to have about Italians, as sort of the epitome of a working class culture in regards to achieving the American Dream, so to say. We're more prone to think of Frank Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio, than Antonio Vivaldi and Leonardo DaVinci.
2:19 Argentina mentioned! Glad to hear your thoughts about the influence of tango in U.S. culture, it never crossed my mind before, but I remember seeing mentions of tango in some cartoons as a kid and like many examples of Latin American culture interpreted in U.S. media it seems like sometimes it mixes it with Mexican and even Spanish culture
Anyway, I hope you'll have a great 2024, J.J. I've been watching your videos since 2021 and you always make very interesting and well-researched videos
Argentina is mentioned when Mexico and Spain have had much more influence lmao
@@55CINCO55😢 Viven llorando ustedes.
@@marodriba ?
Thanks for always making amazing content. I always look forward to seeing what's next.
Awesome video idea! Would love to see more like this
Surprised you didn't mention Mexico although that's really hard to say what the most Mexican thing is. My first thought was Day of the Dead since I feel like any American media thing set in Mexico will feature it at some point. I was going to say sombreros for objects but then I remembered piñatas which will actually be featured at parties that have nothing to do with Mexico.
Feel like there must be one for Cuba but hard to pick, probably either Cuban cigars or some kind of music.
For the Netherlands, probably either windmills or clogs in the popular imagination, but for everything definitely Santa Claus, even if many of his aspects come from elsewhere the name is definitely from Sinterklaas.
I think you could also for sweden make an argument that swedens influence on pop and heavy metal is more culturally important then ikea
Thanks JJ! Happy New Year.
America is not dependent on Middle Eastern oil... this is a long-lived fantasy in the minds of many. Many of our allies are though, and we have been involved in Middle Eastern oil policy for this reason. I would say Islam (and all the good or bad or whatever comes with that) is Saudi Arabia's great contribution (it, uhh, started there.)
I seriously do just love your choice of background music in the jump cuts...
I really enjoyed this video JJ, hope you make a second one soon! :) I Don't know if it's been said already but I'm from Denmark, and I think maybe Lego could've been the thing to have big impact? I don't know how it is over in America but I personally feel like it is one of the more recognisable modern toys. I also thought for Germany maybe fairy tales? I feel that stories like little red riding hood, snow white, rapunzel, hansel and gretel, cinderella, etc. have really made their mark. Both with children getting them read as bedtime stories, to disney engraving them into pop culture with their own spin on them.
I’d like a series like this. What kind of unique influence could Nauru possibly have over American culture?
Honestly, probably it's influence on modern American history, medical, or economic books (probably not high school reading, but still). The fascinating economic and medical lessons learned from Nauru are what I instantly recognize about it. Though it is certainly not as well known as other countries.
Nah. Nauru’s one contribution to the world is being fat. Stop obsessing over America euro. Get a LIFE!
I guess for Finland it would be Sauna or Nokia. For sauna though, it’s interesting that in the US it is a ”spa thing” while in Finland it is an everyday thing, as most apartment buildings and houses have their own saunas, and people usually visit them atleast once a week.
I’d say it’s more so reindeer. Specifically their association with Christmas.
Finns are also supposedly the origin of log cabin-style structures on the colonial frontier via the New Sweden colony near modern day Philadelphia.
Happy New Year JJ. What a neat idea to start the year. Thank you for another great video!
for Croatia it would be a tie, there are many products that have their roots in Croatia but I don't know if there is a more famous Croatian product than neck tie.
for the Czech Republic it might be a robot
Great video J.J.! However, as a proud Aussie I have to point out that the koala is NOT a bear - it is in fact a marsupial. 🐨
It's not exactly his fault though, koalas are sometimes called "koala bears". I'm guessing that term is what he went off of. It's still wrong regardless.
@@Hijiri_MIRACHION yes, people often incorrectly call them "koala bears" due to their visual similarity to bears. It's understandable but thought I'd point it out so others don't make the same mistake.
Great video! Would love a sequel.
For Scotland, you should mention the whole “Lumberjack Scottish Guy wearing tartan Plaid” trope you mentioned in your Canada video
I’d also mention how despite being a non-everyday clothing item, most Americans probably know what a Kilt is, or even bagpipe music
Bagpipes are weirdly integrated into a lot of ceremonies on this continent as well, especially military ones. I am not sure why.
@@JJMcCullough a continuation of Scots regiments I suppose, especially in Canada, in the UK bagpipes are always very prominent in royal ceremonies and memorials services to the glorious dead etc
@JJMcCullough can be heard over gunshots and swords. Bagpipes were played during battle by scotch Irish in American during some early wars. Fife and drum corps are a military tradition of the militias. Bagpipe can replace fifes.
@@JJMcCullough here on the east coast Celtic identity still dominates in a lot of places, the NYPD and NYC Fire Departments are good examples alongside many others like the military
Don't forget Shrek
This video was so good, it should win an award!
Don't worry, they all do!
There are only 60 ikeas in us and Canada? I thought there were thousands. There's literally like 3 within a 25 mile radius of me.
Great video, fun to watch, very reflective and interesting!
Greetings from Germany
Hey JJ. Long time watcher, I’m from Vancouver too! I live in Vic now. I was hoping to send a video suggestion your way hope that’s cool. You’re pretty up to date on Canadian politics and the current issues of our country. I was thinking you would be the person to do a video on what 2024 MIGHT have in store for canada and some of those issues. Thanks for all the great stuff you do!
As an Italian I can say we added the mob
And professional film making and voice acting
@@officialxverzusz Yeah Leone, Tarantino, Coppola, Scorsese and many more
One could argue that the popular image of the mob actually comes from Hollywood cinema rather than reality. Also this popularity of the Italian American mafioso in the media has eclipsed the many other ethnic crime gangs that existed back in the US.
I would have picked martial arts for Japan, more than video games. But I am an old fart.
wait that's actually a really good one! i feel like japanese martial arts have become so ingrained in american culture you almost forget where it comes from
Would love for this to be a series that covers literally every country!
Happy New Year J.J. 🎉
The absolute shock when he didn't say Bali in Indonesia
I'm very surprised you didn't add Mexico on there
Love your vids! Here’s to more great vids in 2024
Good idea for a series