Originally Posted by
flyerfirsts
I don't know what it is, but everywhere I've been if you pretend to be a German who doesn't speak English people quickly leave you alone.
My personal fav is to pretend I am Russian, particularly in Mexico when approached by timeshare hacks, to wit: "No entiendo, soy Ruskie" This also work in France with "Je no ce pas France"
Of course none of the Mexicans are fooled by this, but it often evokes a laugh and some will try to trick me by yelling in English.
A NYC favorite is to walk in a crazy manner and start yelling random phrases - the last thing a perp wants is to deal with an unpredictable crazy person.