Worlds Rudest Countries
 

Happened to see this today. Wish they would have actually written something instead of just a slideshow, but here it is.

France, Russia, UK and Germany top the list of rudest, according to the survey

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1414819.html

Haven't been to Russia, lived in Germany, spent a fair amount of time in the UK and France. Folks in those three haven't been rude, IMHO.

I've been to all 4 and don't agree with the findings IME - 3/4 of them don't make my top 5 even.

It's just another load of xenophobia, cultural bias, and stereotyping.

Some here consider would consider me 'rude' if they encountered me in Germany or France because I am not smiling as I walk down the street, don't engage strangers in small talk, etc.

Yet by the same token, a German could go to America and consider people rude for asking intrusive questions of a personal nature, ordering one to 'smile!', or not calling out a greeting when entering a shop.

I try and adapt to local culture and follow norms when possible, and take the time to try and understand them. Hence I don't label America as 'rude'; I generally understand in which ways they behave differently than other cultures.

I lived in Germany for two years and I never found the Germans to be rude. You can get a ticket for flipping someone off while driving and if you witness an accident the law says you have to stop and assist so being polite is almost built into the law there. They just sound rude. Not a pretty language.

I have been to all of those countries and would never characterize them as "rude." Of course, one can encounter a rude individual at times, but that is true for anywhere one travels, whether around the block or around the world.

Not even Russia? Crazy rudeness is one of my favourite things about the country. From policemen who randomly insist on bribes to barmaids who refuse to serve you or random guys in restaurants who steal your salads.

It's an appealing part of the national character, so long as you don't take it too seriously.

Meh, I lived in England for a couple of years. When we were in London, yes, people could be rude. It's a city, it's typical of just about any city I've ever been in. When we moved out of the city our second year to a fairly small town, people were as friendly as any place else I've been. Anyway, who defines "rude?" I agree with exbayern, it's just cultural bias and stereotyping. (People rip on New Yorkers for being rude, and I haven't seen much evidence of that, either.)

Slide shows like that annoy me. Just write an article, I don't need a photo for every 20 words. I know they do it so they can throw more advertising at you, doesn't work with me. Thank you Safari .......! I disagree with the UK, I have been there a few times and except for few instances I found people quite pleasant.

It's strange what people's perceptions can be. New Yorkers have a reputation for rudeness, but on my trips there I never found it to be the case.

As for Russia, yes they can be rude there. And UK, specifically Scotland, I find that shopkeepers particularly can be rude.

Why Japan is even on a list of "rude" countries is a mystery to me. I find it difficult to believe a tourist to Japan would ever categorize that country as rude.

And Thailand and the Philippines included on the list? It doesn't make sense to me.

I saw this one yesterday and my first thought was that it would be yet another example of French-bashing. What a predictable crock of idiocy. I wonder sometimes if the people filling out these surveys have ever even been to the countries they're slagging.

I am not surprised. Being German, having lived five years in France, eleven in the US and having a dear Russian friend who says herself that Russians are crazy unfriendly, this is really not news. Given that the Brits don't particularly like the French it is even less surprising. And when you think that France is the most visited country and how they are literally overrun by tourists it almost becomes logical. However, I find that they can also be quite rude and aggressive among themselves. In fact, my experience is that once I was really fluent and living there, I didn't have the tourist bonus anymore. They treated me as one of their own. Not good. And things were noticeably worse in Paris than in the rest of France.

The Germans may be somewhat serious and "dry" which can come off as stand-offish but the French IMO actually are more stand-offish, if that is even a word.

This contrast with another study, coincidentally also a British one, that shows that surprisingly the Germans are the people who laugh the most and the easiest. I was at first surprised. But when I thought of it, I came to notice that we laugh even at the silliest and dumbest jokes. Not out of politeness but because even a tiny grain of funny is enough to make us laugh.

I found both the English and the New Yorkers to be very nice. No problems there. And Texans are adorable as long as ye don't mess with Texas. :)

Till

I think you have hit the nail on the head. Paris is the most visited city, so people get their opinion of France on that visit. It is different there than the rest of France.

But I don't blame them. I get fed up too. Just a few weeks ago I was trying to be helpful and a tourist told me in English to shut the bleep up because he was sick and tired of people talking to him in French. :eek: I've seen people scream at metro ticketsellers that they want to go to 'Noder daaaaaame' and get really angry when the seller agrees that 'yes, you want to go to Notre Dame'. Some of the worst tourist behaviours I see are in Paris, compared to London, or New York, or any other similarly large tourist destination I frequent. And I believe that some of it exactly because some of those tourists arrive truly believing 'the French are rude' without ever having encountered it for themselves.

Yet many of those very same tourists then engage in 'rude' behaviour themselves. They don't greet someone in a shop; they launch into English (or another language) without a basic greeting in French, or asking if the person speaks English. They board the metro and behave loudly in groups. It does become tiring after awhile for the locals, just as it does in any major tourist destination around the world.

I will admit that I had a rather spectacular 'discussion' in a chocolate shop a few weeks ago in Paris, but I attributed that more to the shop clerk having that somewhat typical attitude seen amonst teens and twentysomethings in many priveleged countries, rather than being something common only to the French.

And I've had brusk encounters in Germany, especially when it comes to 'issues'. After finding plastic in my food the response was 'well, do you want a refund, or another plate?' Not very warm and fuzzy, but it was to the point. Contrast that to the reaction in America, which would have most likely been far more apologetic to even fawning.

But I still don't consider that 'rudeness', and I still don't stereotype an entire nation based on those encounters.