this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2025
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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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  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. No politics
    • If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
    • A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
  4. Posts must be original/unique
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[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 69 points 1 day ago (9 children)

Dear Europe. Please take me in. Do you have any English speaking countries? Your laws seem to be geared towards benefiting people. Not tyrants and corporations.

[–] AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

The best way to learn a language is through immersion. Honestly I feel like it would be a lot of fun to learn a language in Europe since the majority of people also speak English well if you really need to fall back to that.

There's good and bad. Every few months the EU tries to ban encryption without backdoors again for instance, because "oh dear, think of the children!".

[–] laserwash2000@sh.itjust.works 85 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They did have one heavily English speaking country, but those guys peaced out a few years back. Now it’s just Ireland and Malta (where English is an official language).

[–] VitabytesDev@feddit.nl 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Aatube@kbin.melroy.org 1 points 56 minutes ago

Is English an official language there?

[–] x00z@lemmy.world 45 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

I think the Netherlands has the highest amount of L2 English speakers.

In the Netherlands, the English language can be spoken by the vast majority of the population, with estimates of English proficiency reaching 90%[1] to 97%[2] of the Dutch population.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language_in_the_Netherlands

It's not the official language though so all documents and legal stuff would be in Dutch.

[–] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It’s not the official language though so all documents and legal stuff would be in Dutch.

Well, sorta.

If you're an immigrant there, the Vreemdelingen Politie and other authorities specifically dealing with immigrants will send you the documention in English if you prefer.

Also banks will communicate with you in English if you want.

However, you can forget all about getting anything in English from, for example, the local authorities.

Mind you, it's actually fun to learn Dutch IMHO, though I wouldn't recommend reading official documentation as the best way to do it ...

[–] TheOctonaut@mander.xyz 36 points 1 day ago (3 children)

100% of Irish people can speak English and do so without sounding as ridiculous as the Dutch do.

[–] Damage@feddit.it 27 points 1 day ago
[–] dabaldeagul@feddit.nl 13 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Chin up, Nederlander. I don't think you're ridiculous.

[–] Blubber28@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago
[–] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Europeans from which country get upset when they hear their fellow countrypeople speak English poorly?

Was it Germans, because there’s compulsory English education in schools?

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago

Ime, Germans love shitting on other Germans’ English skills. I’m an English (and German) speaking immigrant in Germany, and I honestly think most people do pretty well, but nobody here finds it as impressive as I do.

[–] ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm moving to Sweden soon, just about everyone there speaks English! And also Swedish is such a a pretty language I'm really excited to be immersed in it

[–] jlh@lemmy.jlh.name 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Can confirm, took me way too long to become fluent in Swedish because I just talked English with everyone 😅

I definitely recommend practicing the language though, it's very important for social interactions, official stuff, and many careers.

Välkommen!

[–] ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago

Tack ❤️ About how long did it take you to become fluent?

[–] Quacksalber@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 day ago

Ireland speaks mostly English as far as I know.

Lucky for you, you can get around with English in most places.

Ireland didn't leave the EU, so that's an option.

In most big cities you can get around just fine. In some you can actually live very comfortably.

As far as laws go, as an EU citizen one is entitled to communication with any public institutions one may come across in their preferred "official language". Stuff like paying your utility bills, registering health insurance, similar bureaucratic stuff, as well as getting stopped by the police. You can insist on doing it in any one of 28 languages, including English.

Usually that's a bit overkill, and whoever you're dealing with will be happy to speak to you in English or find someone else who does if they don't. I assume the same goes for non-citizens. German and French are also quite popular, but English is by far the most ubiquitous.

[–] Coelacanth@feddit.nu 7 points 1 day ago

Any Scandinavian country should have a population ranging from proficient to fluent in English.

[–] irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Ireland, but housing is shite right now.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Is housing shit because the homes need repair? Or are they shit because a single room shack is owned by corporate interests and costs 8 billion dollars a month?

[–] irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

housing is shit because there is no houses

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago

Oh, thats ok. I can just live with you. I'll sleep in the master bedroom. And you can sleep....somewhere, I imagine.