digg

Join DiggAbout

Digg Townhall Tonight!
Tune into the live Digg townhall tonight at 5:00pm PST/8:00pm EST.

List of Faux Pas From Different Cultures Around The World

en.wikipedia.org — In South Africa, gifts are given with the right hand or both hands and are expected to be opened right away.

show profanity settings
expand all
  • lnf69, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13In Saudi Arabia, it is considered polite and a sign of friendship to hold hands when walking. This does not have the romantic connotations it does in the West
    In Chinese culture gifts should be given in pairs because odd numbers imply separation and loneliness.
    • thepeacemaker, on 10/12/2007, -16/+6>@In Saudi Arabia, it is considered polite and a sign of friendship to hold hands

      From what I know of the Saudi culture, I am not sure if that is true. Men sometimes kiss each other on the cheeks (more of touching the cheeks really), they also shake hands, often with both hands and then walk a bit of distance holding hands (that is if they are on the move). But I dont believe people of the same gender walk around holding hands.
    • bloqmon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12I lived there, its very true. You often see two men walking down the street holding hands and it has no meaning other than friendship.
    • sik0fewl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16I guess that explains this: http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/4526/holdinghands0hg.jpg
    • jferrari, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15@sik0fewl
      No they're gay ;)
    • scilec, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yes, it certainly is true. My sister has been married to a Saudi for a long time now. While I was getting to know his family, I was walking with one of his nephews once and he all of a sudden grabbed my hand as we were walking. Although I felt uncomfortable, my sister told me that this was pretty common among same-sex friends in Saudi culture.
    • no8286, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13"Showing any form of intelligence in the United states is punishable by death"

      WTF!
    • vagarach, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I caught that out too. The drawbacks of wikipedia..... :D
    • avolant, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6"Showing any form of intelligence in the United states is punishable by death"

      ive yet to see that tested..
    • ernkush, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1All of this is simply good manners in general that should be recognized by people in the US as well as everywhere else like waiting for everyone to sit down before beginning your food.
  • thepeacemaker, on 10/12/2007, -2/+26For me (having moved from South Asia to the US), the biggest cultural shockers were...
    The Good:
    - Complete strangers smiling and saying "howdy" when walking by on the road; people in cars slowing down and offering rides at odd hours of the night ...but then that was College Station, TX ..sort of a larger Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.
    - When getting into car accidents, the other party actually coming over and asking if I was okay. Back home people get ready for a fist fight in those circumstances.
    The Bad:
    - Setting up gift registries which in essence is no different from asking for gifts. Most people back home would commit hara-kiri before even thinking of doing that.
    - Opening the gift in front of the person giving the gift. Considered hoggish deprived behavior. A big no no back home. All gifts are opened later in private.
    - Shaking hands with the opposite gender. A rough analogy would be to imagine the awkwardness of having to kiss when greeting.
    The Ugly:
    - Not washing after using the toilet ..and i'm not talking about hands. No wonder colognes and perfumes sell so well here. :-)
    • HoboMaster, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Texas in general is a pretty friendly place. Colege Station especially though, yeah.

      As to the not washing bit, I've found wiping to be perfectly sufficient. If that's not, buy some wet-wipes. You'd have to be pretty ineffective at wiping to smell bad afterwards.
    • tsf5000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Yeah, that last one threw me off too. So, do they have showers in public restrooms in Asia?
    • greghunt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2They have a squirty hose thing... I've never tried it, I always carried bog roll with me. Apparently your underwear dries pretty quickly in the hot climate...
    • tritisan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1As for washing the backside, I think the Thai do a great job of providing water, either via a hose, or (traditionally) a tub or jar of water next to the toilet. I think it's much more sanitory than using tissue alone. But, I admit, as a Westerner, that it took me a while to get used to this practice. And yes, the warmer weather does help immensely.
    • subtillus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"For me (having moved from South Asia to the US), the biggest cultural shockers were...
      ....
      - Shaking hands with the opposite gender. A rough analogy would be to imagine the awkwardness of having to kiss when greeting."

      That's funny, I'm an anglo-Quebecois (a mostly french part of Canada) and NOT kissing the cheeks of someone of the opposite sex is considered if not rude then at least relatively cold, detached or impersonal.

      Also, I wanted to point out that I was surprised about the length of the Canadian list, we're a very tolerant and accepting people, but we sure do have a lot of faux-pas to keep it that way.
  • detrate, on 10/12/2007, -27/+2wikipedia is totally news
    • Jwoey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+38hating wikipedia is totally trendy
    • greghunt, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Well, maybe some people have read the whole of wikipedia or at least every single interesting article. It's an encyclopedia, how big can it be? :)
  • greghunt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11In Mongolia if you step on somebody's foot then you're expected to shake their hand and let them stand on your foot in return. It's quite a strange and humbling experience when you're in a mini-bus with 20 other people and an elderly woman asks you to step on her foot (especially when you're trying to figure out what she's saying)!

    Mongolia is very interesting in this respect as it is steeped with tradition and is almost like stepping back into the dark ages (except for the gers with radios and tv).

    That list seems incomplete, I remember many more from my travels, but I'm not sure I'd have the references to back them up.
  • Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21United States: When someone else sneezes, it is customary to say "Bless you."

    I pissed off my wife for some time. Whenever she sneezed, I would say, "I sure hope those demons don't give you the plague!"
    • Jwoey, on 10/12/2007, -3/+25I hate this one! Everytime I sneeze at work both the women in the cubicles next to me say "bless you"

      And I have to say thanks! Otherwise im a jerk or something.. because i didnt thank you for noticing that i sneezed. I dont wanna be blessed, thanks!
    • JorgeGT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Here in Spain is more mandatory to say "Jesus"... you know, Inquisition and such!
      (But some people like me are used to say "salud" ("health"))

      Btw we don't shake hands with women, we double-kiss them on cheeks^^
    • MightyGiant, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5And I've always wondered who's doing the blessing. Is it God? Who gave them the authority to choose who he blesses. And would he really want to bless every poor sap who sneezes?
    • Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@MightyGiant, et al:

      My understanding of the etymology of "God bless you" after a sneeze is such -

      One of the (early?) symptoms of bubonic plague is sneezing. Back when the plague was ravaging Europe, people thought it was caused by evil spirits - demons and devils. So, when you sneezed, people began saying "God bless you" in an attempt to drive the demons out.

      I also understand that "Ring around the rosie" is sourced in the same era. "Ashes, ashes, we all fall down" was originally "Ashews, ashews" - sneezing - "We all fall down" - dying. i think "Ring around the rosie" referred to a ring-shaped lesion that could be found on the skin of someone with plague, and I have no idea what "Pocket full of posies" was about.
    • djNullSpace, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Personally, I excuse myself when I sneeze... usually it saves people from having to say "bless you" because they don't think I'm expecting them to say anything since I already acknowledged that I sneezed.
    • eskay, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@jwoey

      I'm sure you'll survive.
    • nazuraki, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3When someone sneezes around me I say "You're soooo good looking!"
    • alienasa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8@nougat

      "pocket full of posies" refers to the posies that people used to carry around and hold over their nose and mouth in order to avoid breathing in "bad air".
    • vindicta, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0@Nougat
      I think posies were to mask the smell of rotting and burning flesh.


      EDIT: I was beat.
    • allenthar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@All the "Ring Around the Rosie" people

      There is no connection between the nursery rhyme and the Black Plague.

      http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.htm
    • mightytribble, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0nougat:

      When I was growing up, it was:
      "Ring-a-ring of roses / a pocket full of posies / atishoo! atishoo! / We all fall down"

      The ring of roses was the sign of plague. The pocket full of posies referred to the little bags of flowers people would carry around, believing the sweet smell would drive away illness. Atishoo was sneezing, obviously; the manifestation of symtoms. And 'we all fall down' is when everyone dies.

      ...and we sang this when we were five or six years old. And had it explained to us shortly afterwards, and thought it was neat. Yeah, kids back then were a pretty macabre bunch. :)
    • kd1s, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's ok. Saying "bless you" to an atheist is also kind of a faux pas. In our office of six, two are self acknowledged atheists. When one of us sneezes, someone invariably says "bless you" which leads to some humorous exchanges.

      Actually of the six of us, 2 of us are open about our atheism, while it appears two of us are closet atheists. It's a very interesting mix.
    • ericd543, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1members of the United Athiest League might say "Science Bless You"
  • Dested, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I know that over here in America you just assume that the rest of the world shakes each other's hand at the beginning and end of a conversation, so its fun to read a list like this sometimes.
  • Yashar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20At an initial introduction, it is considered awkward to ask someone "How much?"
  • StrawberryFrog, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10"In South Africa, gifts are given with the right hand or both hands and are expected to be opened right away."

    Um, I lived there for 30 years and this is the first that I've heard of this.
    • Crosshare, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is good to know, as I received gifts from South Africans in the past year. We gave them business tours and answered technical questions they couldn't find answers to back there. I was afraid I offended them after reading this : /
    • vagarach, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I lived there for 14 years and knew this from a very, very young age.
    • n1cza, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Ditto, I've lived here all my life (22 years) and I've never heard of this before.

      Though it's very possible it's some sort of Zulu or other culture's tradition. We DO have a million cultures here.

      btw: If you check the link, it's not even under the South Africa heading, 2 other ridiculous ones are. Go Go wiki...
  • Yashar, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14Brazil:
    It is considered rude to walk up to a house or apartment door and knock. The appropriate action is to stand in the yard and clap your hands. If no one comes to the door, then the visitor may approach the door, knock, and then step back away from the door and await a response.

    WTF
    • 4NDr01D, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1never been to a favella ?

      watch the movie City of God
  • Ganpachi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27In Japan it is considered rude to punch airline attendants in the face.
  • flink405, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2Picking your nose and wiping on your neighbor´s shirt is a faux pas everywhere in the world.

    Also breaking wind in a crowded elevator and then pointing at the guy next to you is a no-no everywhere that has elevators.

    Licking another persons ice cream cone without permission has never been looked on favorably in most countries south of the North Pole.

    Tattooing "Your Mother was Here First" above your genitals is considered bad taste in most countries that start with the letters A-Z, but not Q or Y.


    • Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7So I can show my tattoo proudly in Qatar and Yemen? Awesome!
  • greghunt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I noticed how overly polite we are in England when I visited a friend in the Netherlands, we say thank you for so many pointless things, like when people let you get out of a lift or train (the people waiting to get in!). If you look in phrasebooks they will often make fun of this fact. When buying something in a shop you may say thanks several times, in Spanish once is more than enough.
    • Crosshare, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7It's not a bad thing. It's one of the things I really liked and found charming about England while I was there this past summer.
    • RickySan65, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Funny thing that really.. I find Canadians much more polite and genuine then britons, or maybe it's the region where i work now where people are just not textbook British. Being Dutch i do find overusage of thank you annoying at times, once will do.. plus adding please to every sentence is perceived as groveling in some parts of Holland, I don't give a crap what the holy wikepedia says, I'm Dutch and I call it Holland hehe.
    • RadiantBeing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4My English friends thought it was funny how Americans address each other as sir or ma'am.
    • ainmosni, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@rickysan

      I'm dutch as well and I always refer to my country as the Netherlands or "Nederland" in my native tongue. My province is North-Holland and my city is Amsterdam, calling the country Holland is not just inaccurate but also slightly offensive to people which aren't from the *-Holland provinces. (At least a few I know)
  • Bob042, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5This is an interesting literal translation from the article:
    Blowing the nose in public (also, the Japanese do not use their handkerchief for hanakuso, literally 'nose *****')
    • stupidfathead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have seen signs from Japan that refer to ***** and Piss - very funny to us.
  • lostradamus, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5"Calling a Canadian "American" is regarded as crude and insulting"

    Damn straight!! Bring on the flames!
    • Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2The Calgary Flames?
    • seedickjane, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0"When visiting a large Canadian center of which the local NHL Team is making a run for the cup, it is quite acceptable for young women with perky breasts to "bare them" in public to the drunken masses."

      Go Oilers!
    • lostradamus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I meant bring on the flames from the insulted Americans.

      Go Leafs!
  • Crosshare, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10France:

    "Assuming that people speak English without inquiry may be found unpleasant; being able to greet in French and ask whether the interlocutor speaks English is highly appreciated."

    This one is huge when you're visiting France. People were very friendly to us when you open dialog with a French greeting rather than spurting out English. I didn't have much trouble getting around and along with people when you do this. They will listen to you, realize that you're American/Australian/from the UK and switch politely to English after you make the effort if they can speak it.
    • JuyLe, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Right, but unfortunatly, frenchies are not far from the worst when talking about "% of people who can speak it"... Mmhhh... Here's an exemple by the way !!
  • spartyms2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15In the United Kingdom:

    "After intercourse, it is considered rude to wipe your penis in your hostess' hair; it is generally acceptable that you use the curtains instead."
  • smiertspionam, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1UK: "After intercourse, it is considered rude to wipe your penis in your hostess' hair; it is generally acceptable that you use the curtains instead."

    Wonder how that managed to go unnoticed...
  • anagoge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"The desk-top is where one focuses one's mind, so should not be touched by the 'dirty' nether regions."

    Dirty nether regions. Made me laugh.
  • szewczyk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7"If a western marries into a Japanese family, upon meeting their new in-laws the westerner must raise his or her hands up to their eyes and pull them back with their index fingers to give the appearance of slanty eyes. Failing to do so will often result in death."

    OK, is this real? It's too over the top, someone must have screwed with the entry.
    • RickySan65, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4My God do you belief what is on wikipedia?
    • blazen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"In Ghana, it is considered impolite to have sex with one's wife in front of the wife's parents, but is perfectly acceptable in front of the husband's parents."

      Don't tell me you'd believe that either
    • szewczyk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Clearly not or I wouldn't have pointed it out.
    • ShagNASTY, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Agreed. Some wacky info has slipped into the wiki.
  • IQis87, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2.....
  • toomuchfreetime, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"Showing any form of intelligence in the United states is punishable by death."

    Heheh. Wikipedia-vandalizing smart-alecks.
  • zivarik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1is this right?
    for japan section wiki wrote "If a western marries into a Japanese family, upon meeting their new in-laws the westerner must raise his or her hands up to their eyes and pull them back with their index fingers to give the appearance of slanty eyes. Failing to do so will often result in death."

    i think this would actually kill you not save you. i also think someone is putting wrong info on wiki...
  • cleanshots, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2In all honesty the U.S. is the wackiest of them all. Always make fun of religion if and only if you insult Christians, mention another religion (Islam) negatively and boom you are looking a jail time for racist comments.
  • jferrari, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"It is considered impolite to ask a woman how old she is or inquire about her weight."

    What country is this ok?
  • tacom8, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Germany:
    Placing a phone call to somebody after 10 p.m. (22:00) , unless by previous appointment or calling a friend. Furthermore, do not call senior citizens between 8 p.m. and 8.15 p.m (20:00 - 20:15), as many of them watch the prime time daily news at that time.


    That just cracks me up, you crazy old Germans! In Canada it's the custom to never call old people, unless you are operating a telemarketing scam...
  • gecko1969, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Biggest Faux Pas of them all no matter where you come from: "Expecting people not of your culture to know all the little things about your culture. Then treating them badly for it."

    I mean it's good and all to do a bit of reading up on things that can get you killed, like using your middle finger to point at things here in US. But come on there is a point that you just have to be like "well they are not from around here". Which is why the humor of Borat is kinda lame. To expect middle American to know jack about any place is a reach, but that can be said about the middle of any nation. "Oh hahaha, those silly (insert nation not in the Americas) thinks we all are cowboys or movie stars, hahaha are they silly, hahahaha" If anything the folks are being far more polite to Borat and think that his English is so poor that he can't really mean what he is saying. Say that ***** he says in a British or Aussie accent and most of those folk would have told Borat to go ***** himself.
  • gibler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The classic one in New Zealand is tipping. We don't have a culture of tipping at all, leading to a reputation in the US of being cheap...
  • flink405, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Unless it´s your sister...
  • stupidfathead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Overt displays of "nationalism" make English Canadians extremely uncomfortable. English Canadians are quietly and fiercely proud of their country, but patriotic fervour is an intensely private matter and not appropriate for public display.::

    Um, as a proud Anglo Canuck I gotta disagree with this one. I mean, we don't march enmasse like some people when someone insults us, but I would hardly say we are intensly private about patriatism or even fervour for that matter. I am a proud Canadian and will open a can of Molsen on anyones ass (similar to whoop ass but better) who comes here and changes the channel when Hockey Night In Canada is on!
  • GutshotJimmy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1'In Iraq, the "Thumbs Up" gesture is considered an offensive insult.'

    http://resynthesize.com/myspace/norris.jpg
  • rushpage, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1An America, if the police use ANY sort of force on you or are "rude," you are expected to hire a lawyer and sue, sue, sue IMMEDIATELY!

    To accept responsibility for your actions being what required the use of force by the police would be unheard of.
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.