forbidden words: cultural differences

cultural adj. 1: of or relating to culture or culturing 2: concerned with the fostering of plant or animal growth.

from Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield, Mass., G. & C. Merriam Co, 1967.

~ ~ ~

difference n. 1 She doesn’t know the difference between asking and demanding: distinction, contradistinction, lack of resemblance, dissimilarity, unlikeness, dissimilitude, contrast, variation, disagreement, contrariety, deviation, divergence, contradiction; distinguishing characteristic, point of dissimilarity. 2 The difference in their ages is six years:  discrepancy, disparity. 3 They haven’t spoken since their difference last year: dispute, argument, disagreement, clash, falling out, contretemps, quarrel, squabble, spat, set-to.
Ant 1 resemblance, similarity, likeness, similitude, analogy, affinity, agreement, uniformity, unity, consonance, identity, harmony, sameness. 3 agreement, concurrence, harmony, compatibility.

from – Family Word Finder: Reader’s Digest. The Reader’s Digest Association, 1975.

~ ~ ~

cultural differences – cultural diversity . . . quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture. It has a variety of meanings in different contexts, sometimes applying to cultural products like art works in museums or entertainment available online, and sometimes applying to the variety of human cultures or traditions in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. It can also refer to the inclusion of different cultural perspectives in an organization or society.

Cultural diversity can be affected by political factors such as censorship or the protection of the rights of artists, and by economic factors such as free trade or protectionism in the market for cultural goods. Since the middle of the 20th century, there has been a concerted international effort to protect cultural diversity, involving the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and its member states. This involves action at international, national, and local levels. Cultural diversity can also be promoted by individual citizens in the ways they choose to express or experience culture.

Characteristics
In the context of national and international efforts to promote or preserve cultural diversity, the term applies to five overlapping domains:

• economic: the availability of diverse cultural goods or services,
• artistic: the variety of artistic genres and styles that coexist,
• participatory: the participation of diverse ethnic groups in a nation’s culture,
• heritage: the diversity of cultural traditions that are represented in heritage institutions such as museums, and
• multicultural: the variety of ethnic groups and their traditions that are visible in a country.

Of these five, the economic meaning has come to dominate in international negotiations. Nations have principally looked to protect cultural diversity by strengthening the ability of their domestic cultural industries to sell goods or services. Since the 1990s, UNESCO has mainly used “cultural diversity” for the international aspects of diversity, preferring the term “cultural pluralism” for diversity within a country.

Governments and international bodies use “cultural diversity” in both a broad and a narrow sense. The broad meaning takes its inspiration from anthropology. It includes lifestyles, value systems, traditions, and beliefs in addition to creative works. It emphasises an ongoing process of interaction and dialogue between cultures. This meaning has been promoted to the international community by UNESCO, since the 2001 Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity. In practice, governments use a narrower, more traditional, meaning that focuses on the economic domain mentioned above.

In the international legal context, cultural diversity has been described as analogous to biodiversity.  The General Conference of UNESCO took this position in 2001, asserting in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity that “cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature.” The authors John Cavanagh and Jerry Mander took this analogy further, describing cultural diversity as “a sort of cultural gene pool to spur innovation toward ever higher levels of social, intellectual and spiritual accomplishment.”

from – Wikipedia contributors. (2025a, January 3). Cultural diversity. Wikipedia.

~ ~ ~

example sentences: cultural differences

Cultural difference in architectural education is seldom discussed in public debate among teachers of architecture.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

At a stroke, all sense of history and cultural difference was lost.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

His presentation of identity issues that arise when students encounter cultural difference is another rich field of particular interest to music teacher educators.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

The exploration of cultural difference conducted under the condition of tremendous exchange between cultures might be misled into the pitfall of generalization or absolutization.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

This cultural difference in interactive relationships is important when considering dolls as social conditioning devices for children.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Like other authors in the volume he is concerned that nation-states are recognising cultural difference as a substitute for engaging in a politics of redistribution.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Any strategy for housing and social inclusion must, therefore, promote financial security, tolerance for cultural difference and genuine political participation.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

What access is provided for the command of tone and ornament in terms of cultural difference?
From the Cambridge English Corpus

The alternative cultural difference paradigm also has been used to elucidate theoretical controversies in many different areas of development.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Elsewhere, it was a case of cultural difference that led to misunderstandings.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Arguably, it thus serves to expand the audience’s tolerance for ethnic and cultural difference.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

There was also a more fundamental cultural difference at work here.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Their control over the geographic space and the strong ethnic familial ties enabled trade to flourish for those who understood cultural difference and trade opportunities.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

In this way he shows how representations of cultural difference are perpetuated by a dominant economic interest.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

These lifestyles reflect different strategies for managing cultural difference, but also different forms and aspects of place attachment and different ideals of mobility.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Everything is relative, cultural difference being no exception.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

The last case that we will consider involves a more subtle version of cultural difference.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

For the new ‘comparatists of difference’, the focus is on recognising, even celebrating cultural difference, focused on law.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

What keeps us above water is our cultural difference.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Ideals of mobility and views of cultural adaptation differ among them, although there was a tendency to downplay issues of cultural difference.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

from – CULTURAL DIFFERENCE collocation | meaning and examples of use. (2025).

---

April 24, 2025
Hudson Valley, New York

This is one of the words / combination of words you can’t say in the new Trump Administration. See a comprehensive list at the Forbidden Words Project.

image: light my fire © Holly Troy 2023