I am not sure what to make of this, but about 85% (maybe even 87%!!) of the time when I meet someone new (and they find out I am Czech) he/she tells me one of their ancestors was Czech or Slovak. Does it mean that the American nation is really just a bigger Czechoslovakia which calls itself the United States of America (and yes, a little detail, people speak a different language)? You may have noticed that the Czechmate Diary’s under-title is ‘small Bohemian steps to world domination’ but heck, maybe we have already overtaken the world since most Americans have Czech and Slovak ancestors! In that case I would have to change it to something more current, something like “Small Bohemian Steps to Cosmic domination”;0).
I decided to do a simple poll. If you have the same experience as I do with people I meet then my hypothesis is correct.
CZ: Stale to nemuzu pochopit, ale pokazde, kdyz potkam novou osobu – a ta dotycna osoba se dovi, ze jsem Ceska – tak mi z 85% (nebo dokonce 87%??) vetsinou odpovi neco jako, ze jeho babicka/dedecek/prababicka byla plnokrvna Ceska nebo Slovenka. Jak je to mozne? Znamena to, ze americky narod se zrodil z naseho Ceskoslovenska? Znamena to, ze Spojene Staty Americke jsou vlastne vetsi Ceskoslovensko za velkou louzi?
Proto jsem vytvorila jednoduchou anketu, kde se dovime pravdu a nic nez pravdu. Jestlize se ma hypoteza potvrdi, pak musim muj zastaraly podtitul “Small Bohemian Steps to World Domination” vymenit za neco aktualnejsiho…neco jako “Small Bohemian Steps to Cosmic domination”:0)
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I voted “rarely” but only because it is less than 50% of the time. I have met quite a few other people with Slovak heritage but no Czech! I think it depends on where in the US you live though. Of those I’ve met, most seem to be about 1/4 Slovak because in my generation, our great grandparents were Slovaks who came over in the early 20th century in large numbers to find work. Then quite a few of them “blended in” after a generation and started marrying people whose parents came from Poland, Italy, lots of other countries. They were speaking English by then, going to the same schools etc. It’s very common here to find people with 4 or more different countries in their heritage!
Now that I think about it I think my experience is skewed by the fact that I have this blog and people contact me all the time about stuff. Most of them have CS heritage and the rest has CS boyfriends/wives/friends….so the mystery is solved!
World Domination is the truth. Budweiser is actually Czech. It was given to the Americans as a thank you after WWII.
Hi Kimmie, do you know where would I find more information about this? I looked Wikipedia but the history of the beer is quite brief.
Tanja, I don’t know where do you live, but if I tell somebody I am a Czech, they get excited and are telling me: “What a coincidence, my ancestors were Germans!!”…
Kimmie, you are kidding, right?
Budvar je český pivo, jasně. Anheuser Busch jenom sbalil populární jméno. české budějovice se jmenují v němčině Budweiser, od toho Budweiser, stejně jako Plzeň je v němčině Pilsen, od toho Pilsner. Jenže Američané s oblibou berou jména cizích výrobků a považují je za vlastní. Naštěstí si Budvar nenechá koupit Američany a zůstává domácí. A v těch pivech je rozdíl jak nebe a dudy. Český pivo skvělý, americký Budvar typické pivo o ničem.Čechů a Slovaků je všude plno, spousta lidí má český nebo slovenský příjmení. Jenže většina Američanů svůj původ nezná.
Vlastimil, I am not kidding! But one thing is to say that your ancestors were Czech and another thing is to know where the Czech Republic is….or that it is not the same as Czechnia, or Russia….;)
Jozka…Budweiser znamena Budejovicke….americani nic neukradli, jen si na to udelali ochrannou znamku….
Mimochodem, kdyz amici ukradli tu znacku, tak byl v budejovicich dva “Budweiser”….jeden cesky a druhy nemecky pivovar… Samozrejme americky budweiser jsou chcanky a zakaznik by mel mit svobodnou volbu, jestli bude kupovam mocku (urine) anebo Budvar 😉
Tanja, vzdyt je to jedno , kdo je Cech a kdo ne…jsme vsichni bratri a sestry . Ale myslim si, ze lidstvo bylo vysazeno nejakymi extraterestialnimi bytostmi v Ceske kotline a tak se stalo, ze pak zacala velka migrace lidstva z Ceske kotliny na vse svetove strany…
Vedci se mylne domnivaji, ze lidstvo pochazi z Afriky, a jen neschopni lide nebyli schopni z Afriky odejit a zustali tam…. Musim historiky opravit….lidstvo pochazi z Bohemie…. ale nvim, jestli zustali tam ti neschopni anebo naopak chytri lide, kteri vedeli, ze nikde jinde lepe nebude 😉
The name ‘Budweiser’ means of or from Budweis, which was the German name for the city we now call Ceske Budjovice. During the Austrian empire, all czech towns and cities had their German names, e.g.: Teplice=Teplitz; Karlovy Vary=Carlsbad, etc. So the name Budweiser means something(in this case, beer) from Ceske Budjovice, the same way “Frankfurter” means something(in this case sausage, or person I guess) from Frankfurt, or “Hamburger” means something from Hamburg. Problem is, the American brewing corp Anheuser Busch started using the name when they thought nobody would know or care. It has become ‘institutionalized” on a world wide scale, but the original Budweiser or “Budvar” is still being produced in CB, CR. This all adds to the confusion of globally myopic Americans who have no clue that there is also a city (which brews a little been as well) called Plzn in the Czech Rep from which a lot of brewers have borrowed the word ‘Pilsener.”
My favorite comment I get from people my age 20 somethings is that,”Oh yeah my grandmother’s Czech too. Like they wouldn’t be Czech, they are Czech too. But I guess only a quarter Czech is not Czech enough. They’ve lost that sense of cultural identity.
Haha, mne se libi Vlastimiluv pristup, ze lidstvo pochazi z Bohemie, nebo spis Moravy, ze ano? 🙂 Velka Morava…
Nojo, Velka Morava …. Ale kdo dal Moravaky dohromady? Nejaky fransky smelinar.. Myslim, ze se jmenoval Samo 🙂
Tak se mu zalibily mistni zeny, ktere byly krev a mleko, a to tak, ze zapomel na ekonomicke kontakty a venoval se kontaktum vice spiritualnim 😉
Jano, moje babicka byla zaziva Nemka..To znamena, ze jsem aspon 25% Nemec. Ale nikdy jsem Nemeckou identitu nemel,,,ani nevim, jake to je, se citit Nemcem… Moje babicka pochazi z “Aussig am Elbe”…mam se citid jako DDRak nebo jako Zapadni Nemec ? 😉 A jakou identitu maji mit moje deti, kdyz maji ceskou, nemeckou, ruskou a polskou krev? A nepochybuju, ze se do jejich krve take primichal nejaky ten potomek Cingischana 😉