--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You'll say things all wrong but they'll…" description: "\"“You'll say things all wrong but they'll at once become American ways of saying things. You won't know shit but it'll right away become an American typ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bad/salman-rushdie-153_ignorance_you-ll-say-things-all-wrong-but-they-ll_308258.jpg" --- # You'll say things all wrong but they'll at once become… ![“You'll say things all wrong but they'll at once become American ways of saying things. You won't know shit but it'll right away become an American type of ignorance. Not belonging, that's an old American tradition, see?, that's the American way.” quote by Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bad/salman-rushdie-153_ignorance_you-ll-say-things-all-wrong-but-they-ll_308258.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bad/salman-rushdie-153_ignorance_you-ll-say-things-all-wrong-but-they-ll_308258.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bad/salman-rushdie-153_ignorance_you-ll-say-things-all-wrong-but-they-ll_308258.jpg) > ““You'll say things all wrong but they'll at once become American ways of saying things. You won't know shit but it'll right away become an American type of ignorance. Not belonging, that's an old American tradition, see?, that's the American way.”” [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker critiques how non‑Americans quickly adopt American idioms and attitudes, often without deep understanding, highlighting a cultural assimilation that can foster ignorance and a sense of not belonging. **In simple terms:** Americans adopt foreign habits, leading to shallow ignorance and alienation. Key Takeaway Recognize and question superficial cultural assimilation. Themes culture identity assimilation ignorance belonging Mood critical reflective Type observational commentary When to use this quote - immigration experiences - language learning - workplace integration - media consumption Key Concepts cultural adaptation identity formation social conformity Questions to Reflect On - How does adopting new expressions affect personal identity? - When does assimilation become harmful? A Different Perspective The quote may overgeneralize and ignore positive aspects of cultural exchange. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) ## Related quotes > [There is no binary division to be made between what one says and what one does not say; we must try to determine the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/there-is-no-binary-division-to-be-made-between-what-one-says-and-what/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [I have different ways of saying things and doing things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-michael-of-kent/i-have-different-ways-of-saying-things-and-doing-things/) [Princess Michael of Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-michael-of-kent/) > [What a pity it is that there are so many words! Whenever one wants to say anything, three or four ways of saying it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-charles-hare/what-a-pity-it-is-that-there-are-so-many-words-whenever-one-wants-to/) [Julius Charles Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-charles-hare/) > [There are so many ways of saying Hi. Hiss it, trill it, bark it, sing it, bellow it, laugh it, cough it. A simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/there-are-so-many-ways-of-saying-hi-hiss-it-trill-it-bark-it-sing-it/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [“People have different ways of saying good-bye, especially when it is forever. 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I do a ton of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-grammer/i-always-try-to-find-things-worth-saying-things-that-are-supposed-to/) [Andy Grammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-grammer/) > [In the U.S., it's like, you start with a great script, and then on set - not everybody, but definitely in the Apatow group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hader/in-the-u-s-it-s-like-you-start-with-a-great-script-and-then-on-set/) [Bill Hader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hader/) > [I think my way of being "funny" is just saying things that people think but have learned not to say, whereas, I haven't learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-chang/i-think-my-way-of-being-funny-is-just-saying-things-that-people-think/) [Victoria Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-chang/) > [The wrong one will start saying things like "withdraw with honor." We've heard phrases like that before, and they led to thousands and thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-haggis/the-wrong-one-will-start-saying-things-like-withdraw-with-honor-we-ve/) [Paul Haggis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-haggis/) > [I still have a good girl deep inside, but also recognise that it's worth saying things people will disagree with or get annoyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-swinson/i-still-have-a-good-girl-deep-inside-but-also-recognise-that-it-s/) [Jo Swinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-swinson/) > [Its amazing the things you realize when you lose someone. You get mad at yourself for not saying the things you could have said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-amazing-the-things-you-realize-when-you-lose-someone-you-get-mad/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You can go back and try to generalize, but then you end up saying things that all editors say about everything that ever gets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/you-can-go-back-and-try-to-generalize-but-then-you-end-up-saying/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [“You don't know that you are saying these things to a princess, and that if I chose I could wave my hand and order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hodgson-burnett/you-don-t-know-that-you-are-saying-these-things-to-a-princess-and/) [Frances Hodgson Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hodgson-burnett/) ## More by Salman Rushdie > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [It's a terrible thing that your life turns into a good story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/it-s-a-terrible-thing-that-your-life-turns-into-a-good-story/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I want to write novels. I want to write stories. I want to do the stuff that I became a writer to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-want-to-write-novels-i-want-to-write-stories-i-want-to-do-the-stuff/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [If you want to be a serious writer, then you have to write what there is to write about. If you're going to pull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-you-want-to-be-a-serious-writer-then-you-have-to-write-what-there/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Después de exigir mi marcha, ya no posees jurisdicción en lo concerniente a mi salud.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/despu-s-de-exigir-mi-marcha-ya-no-posees-jurisdicci-n-en-lo/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [If there is a choice between absolute safety and freedom, then freedom must always prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-there-is-a-choice-between-absolute-safety-and-freedom-then-freedom/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm not a prophet, but I always thought it was natural for dictatorships to fall. I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'd wanted to create a storm so that I could become more famous and richer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-d-wanted-to-create-a-storm-so-that-i-could-become-more-famous-and/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Who what am I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/who-what-am-i-my-answer-i-am-the-sum-total-of-everything-that-went/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“...proving once again that there was no escape from recurrence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/proving-once-again-that-there-was-no-escape-from-recurrence/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“information, in a stream-of-consciousness soliloquy that revealed the extent to which he had internalised the adversarial fragmentation of American culture and made it a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/information-in-a-stream-of-consciousness-soliloquy-that-revealed-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [A little bit of one story joins onto an idea from another, and hey presto, . . . not old tales but new ones.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/a-little-bit-of-one-story-joins-onto-an-idea-from-another-and-hey/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm a novelist. Fortunately I don't have to rule the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-a-novelist-fortunately-i-don-t-have-to-rule-the-world/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [The First Amendment defends all forms of speech including hate speech, which is why groups like Ku Klux Klan are allowed to utter their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/the-first-amendment-defends-all-forms-of-speech-including-hate-speech/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) [Explore all 1,087 Salman Rushdie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## More Ignorance quotes > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ignorance is not bliss — it is oblivion. Determined ignorance is the hastiest kind of oblivion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-wylie/ignorance-is-not-bliss-it-is-oblivion-determined-ignorance-is-the/) [Philip Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-wylie/) > [... informed ignorance provides the natural state of mind for research scientists at the ever-shifting frontiers of knowledge. People who believe themselves ignorant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/informed-ignorance-provides-the-natural-state-of-mind-for-research/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“If knowledge does not liberate the self from the self, then ignorance is better than such knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hakim-sanai/if-knowledge-does-not-liberate-the-self-from-the-self-then-ignorance/) [Hakim Sanai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hakim-sanai/) > [You are senile old fool, and because of your impudence, I cannot fathom how you still live!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-are-senile-old-fool-and-because-of-your-impudence-i-cannot-fathom/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/knowledge-will-forever-govern-ignorance-and-a-people-who-mean-to-be/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [“Don’t turn your face away. Once you’ve seen, you can no longer act like you don’t know. Open your eyes to the truth. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vashti-quiroz-vega/don-t-turn-your-face-away-once-you-ve-seen-you-can-no-longer-act-like/) Vashti Quiroz-Vega > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-only-victories-which-leave-no-regret-are-those-which-are-gained/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [“Those who embrace prejudice doom themselves to live in ignorance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-p-lintz-sr/those-who-embrace-prejudice-doom-themselves-to-live-in-ignorance/) John P Lintz Sr > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [Sanity can take one of only two forms: that of ignorance, or denial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-r-audette/sanity-can-take-one-of-only-two-forms-that-of-ignorance-or-denial/) [Derek R. Audette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-r-audette/) [Browse all 5,657 Ignorance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You'll say things all wrong but they'll at once become American ways of saying things. You won't know shit but it'll right away become an American type of ignorance. 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