FACTOID # 142: Americans consume the sixth-most spirits, the eighth-most beer and the 18th-most wine. They’re also likely to view heavy drinkers as undesirable neighbors.
 
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Encyclopedia > National pastime

A National Pastime is a sport or game that is consider to be a culturally intrinsic part of a country or nation. The term national pastime is mainly used in North American English. In British English the term national sport is used. This article is about a recreational activity. ... Look up country in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... One of the most influential doctrines in history is that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ... North American English is a collective term to describe the varieties of the English language that are spoken in the United States and Canada. ... British English (BrE) is a term used to differentiate between the form of the English language used in the United Kingdom and those used elsewhere. ...


Although there are normally no official parameters towards defining what is a National Pastime, there are some general things most sports or games that are National Pastimes have in common, including:

  • The rules and objectives of the sport or game are known in fairly great detail in the country or nation.
  • The game or sport is widely played or watched in the country or nation.
  • The game or sport has a long history of popularity or extreme current popularity in the country or nation.

In some countries, sport or game can become the official national pastime by mandate of the government, such as with Canada and lacrosse in 1859. [1] The Dive Shot. A womens lacrosse player carries the ball past a defender. ...


In other countries, where the sport or game has such a long history, such as with baseball in the United States or sumo wrestling in Japan, the sport or game is often considered a de facto "official" national pastime. Baseball is a team sport in which a player on one team (the pitcher) attempts to throw a hard, fist-sized ball past a player on the other team (the batter), who attempts to hit the baseball with a tapered, smooth, cylindrical stick called a bat. ... A sumo match Sumo (相撲 Sumō), or sumo wrestling, is today a competition contact sport wherein two wrestlers or rikishi face off in a circular area. ... De facto is a Latin expression that means in fact or in practice. It is commonly used as opposed to de jure (meaning by law) when referring to matters of law or governance or technique (such as standards), that are found in the common experience as created or developed without...


List of countries' national sports/pastimes



 

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