this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2026
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

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Maybe this is a regional thing but I've always called it the US

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[–] PiraHxCx@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 2 days ago (2 children)

In my country you can know someone's politics just by knowing if they call people from the USA americanos or estadounidenses.

[–] troglodyte_mignon@tarte.nuage-libre.fr 2 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

I’ve seen estadounidense in a Spanish newspaper before, and for some reason this word is very hard for me to spell.

In French too, there’s “états-unien” (also spelled “étatsunien”). It’s little known and rarely used (in France). I have no idea if it’s more often used by left-leaning speakers. (I do use it from time to time, and I think it can be useful to avoid ambiguity.) I can imagine its use being more common and more political in Québec, compared to France where I live?


While writing this comment, I stumbled on a letter from a very angry listener who wrote to the French public radio “arbitrator” (don’t know if it’s the right word) to complain about a guest using the word “étatZunien” (his spelling) several times (gasp) on the air. Apparently, the listener believed the word to be made up, and he wasn’t the only one who wrote to complain about it.

And the arbitrator’s like “um, dude, it’s a real word, it’s in the dictionary since 1961”.

There’s no point linking to that here, really — the letter’s all written in very incoherent French — but it made me laugh.

[–] NaibofTabr 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

estadounidenses

people actually use this in conversation?

[–] PiraHxCx@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

When they aren't imperialist bootlickers.

ps: In Portuguese, United States is Estados Unidos - hence estadounidense.

[–] NaibofTabr 6 points 2 days ago

Oh I understand the word, it just seems like a lot of syllables.

[–] limpatzk@bookwyr.me 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

When they aren’t imperialist bootlickers.

That's not an ABSOLUTE true if you're talking about Brazil. Yes, some people prefer to use the term "estadunidenses" over "americanos" for political reasons, but I've seen some people on the far left using the term "americanos" too. The problem is that "estadunidense" is a long word, even if it has just one additional syllable compared to "americanos". Most Portugese words has 2-3 syllables and people tend to stick with shorter words.

[–] PiraHxCx@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

But have you ever seen someone who is not far left using the term estadounidense/estadunidense?

It's like when you ask if someone smokes and the person says "smoke what?" you already know he's a pothead xD

[–] limpatzk@bookwyr.me 1 points 1 day ago

To be honest I don't know, "estadunidense" is not as used as "americano", but I do think you're right. People who use "estadunidense" tend to be more anti-US.