Not in our traditional or culture to....

[Ashraful Haque]

IELTS examiner: Have your birthday parties changed compared to before?


Me: I'd say yes they have. It was not in our tradition or culture to celebrate birthday parties the way we do these days. Cutting cakes on birthdays is a fairly new thing. I'd say it's a piece western culture that we've adopted.

Is it correct to say 'something is not in my culture/ Tradition/ Religion'?
Or is it more natural to just say "It was not our tradition or culture to celebrate...."

 

[teechar]

Me: I'd say yes they have. It was not in our tradition or culture to celebrate birthday parties the way we do these days, [STRIKE]Cutting[/STRIKE] and eating cakes on birthdays is a fairly new thing. I'd say it's a piece western culture that we've adopted.

See above.

Is it correct to say 'something is not in my culture/tradition/religion'?

Religion doesn't come into it here, but the other two are possible.

Or is it more natural to just say "It was not our tradition or culture to celebrate...."

That's also possible, but I prefer the former.

 

[Skrej]

Me: I'd say yes they have. It was not in our tradition or culture to celebrate birthday parties the way we do these days. Cutting cakes on birthdays is a fairly new thing. I'd say it's a piece of western culture that we've adopted.

Note the missing preposition.

 

[Tarheel]

Please note that we celebrate birthdays, not birthday parties. (Now I want some cake.)
opcorn::bday:

 

[Ashraful Haque]

Please note that we celebrate birthdays, not birthday parties. (Now I want some cake.)
opcorn::bday:

I see. It's just like celebrating Christmas. We celebrate the occasion not the party.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

See above.


Religion doesn't come into it here, but the other two are possible.


That's also possible, but I prefer the former.

Could you please tell me why you cut 'cutting'?

 

[Rover_KE]

Religion doesn't come into it here, but the other two are possible.

It does in other contexts.

Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate birthdays "because we believe that such celebrations displease God."

(JW.org)

 

[slevlife]

Could you please tell me why you cut 'cutting'?

You could talk about eating, making, enjoying, or sharing cakes, but cutting them is incidental (and not totally necessary!) so it sounds strange/unusual to describe that as a new thing or a part of Western culture.

 

[Glizdka]

You could talk about eating, making, enjoying, or sharing cakes, but cutting them is incidental (and not totally necessary!) so it sounds quite strange to describe that as a new thing or a part of Western culture.

When I was 10, I slammed my face in the cake after blowing out the candles and started slurping it. It definitely is unnecessary to cut it... or share with others! :-D

 

[Tarheel]

I consider cutting the cake necessary in most cases. It's just not a thing.