The meaning of "be it practices"

Question

Could you help me understand the meaning of "be it practices" in the context below?

People will always find some aspect of another culture distasteful, be it practices, a way of treating friends or relatives, or simply a food that they can not manage to get down with a smile.

The form be it X (always followed by *or X [or Z...]* is equivalent to *if/whether it's X [or y or z]*. Someone else will have to provide the formal grammar/syntax background. — FumbleFingers, Dec 15 '14 at 18:25

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 15 '14 at 18:27

be it...or... is a common (albeit formal) construction in English that basically means the same thing as whether it is...or....

In your case, the sentence is saying "People will always find something they don't like about foreign cultures, whether it is their practices, how they treat friend/relatives, or bad food."

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 15 '14 at 19:59

0

It is the present subjunctive mood.

edited Dec 15 '14 at 19:59

Misti

13,774

answered Dec 15 '14 at 19:16

Martin

1,513

But this hardly answers the main thrust of the question (about what the string means). – Edwin Ashworth Dec 15 '14 at 20:38

The meaning of "be it practices"

2 Answers2