34
submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

One of my students asked me this question and I did not really know how to answer her. She was referring to the kinds of "games" that children and sometimes adults play in order to make a decision, like other forms of flipping a coin, for example.

Here in my country we also do rock paper scissors, but we call it joquempô. We also do odds and evens, par ou ímpar, and a more extended version called dois ou um, "two or one", in which players present either one or two fingers, and then the ones who chose the same amount of fingers leave the game or become a team. This can also be done with up to five fingers, and then it's called dedos iguais, "equal/same fingers".

Are there any other such games in your country? My student really caught me off-guard when she asked that, I had never thought about this cultural aspect.

Also, I'm curious to know what you do and/or did as a child if you're not from an English-speaking country as well!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago

joquempô

That's wild. In Japanese they say "じゃんけんぽん" when they do rock paper scissors, which is pronounced jankenpon.

Obviously Portuguese had a significant impact on Japanese language and culture with probably the most famous example being tempura. I just wonder which way janken went: from Portuguese to Japanese to vice versa.

[-] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Wow, that's crazy, I didn't know that! There's a lot of Japanese immigrants in Brazil, particularly in the region around São Paulo and Paraná, so that might explain the origin of the word. Maybe Portuguese -> Japanese -> Brazilian Portuguese? I'll have to check that out.

edit: I'm particularly interested in this because I've been watching Shogun lol

[-] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago

Wikipedia says it originated in China, became it's modern iteration in Japan, and then spread to the world.

this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2024
34 points (100.0% liked)

chat

7976 readers
57 users here now

Chat is a text only community for casual conversation, please keep shitposting to the absolute minimum. This is intended to be a separate space from c/chapotraphouse or the daily megathread. Chat does this by being a long-form community where topics will remain from day to day unlike the megathread, and it is distinct from c/chapotraphouse in that we ask you to engage in this community in a genuine way. Please keep shitposting, bits, and irony to a minimum.

As with all communities posts need to abide by the code of conduct, additionally moderators will remove any posts or comments deemed to be inappropriate.

Thank you and happy chatting!

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS