German faux-pas

Germany currently holds the record for the number of faux-pas listed on Wikipedia - a whopping 35 are listed ...more than for the Middle East (12 faux-pas listed), India (20), Japan (18), the UK (19), or the US (26). Not sure what that says about our beloved hosts...

Many I'd have thought are pretty universal... some are just plain daft. Anyway, here's a selection of the whackier faux-pas listed at Wikipedia - List of faux pas.

I think asking a "familiar" woman wouldn't go down well either!!

but they do!

I now lie...about both!

I am not a good liar!

ehh people never guess my age right.

But clinking your beer glass down briefly after prosting in southern Bavaria is NOT the done thing in left-wing company.

Many a foreign visitor is tempted by the bell that hangs in many local pubs.
There used to be one in my old local and it was fun on your birthdfay to really ring it hard.

In Saxony on the weekend, the company I was in did not do the "looking into the eyes thing". I was shocked and appalled! When I made a fuss, they did it once in a mocking way...

i think they are all true :-). i remember when i was a child and my parents took me to the States, they told me not to copy the american eating habits...

They couldn't see straight anyway by the 4th shot of tequila.

Seems like a stupid list to me. Almost all of the 'peculiarly German' manners apply equally to Britain. And we could probably find a few additional items in Britain that don't cause any offence in Germany. Eg: Queue-jumping.

Is that a valid excuse...? I was still doing it after 4 Maß and numerous cocktails at Oktoberfest...I guess they don't make em like they used to!

Knocking your glass on the table after prosting is not necessary universal to Southern Germany, but you should do it with a Weißbier as the yeast settles at the bottom between swills and knocking the glass on the table swirls it up again.

Oh lord, I just read the one for Canada, that's definitely gotta rival Germany - it has 3 sub-sections, for cripes sake!!!

waaaa???


Bwwwaaa haaa haaa haaa No way. A Newfie wrote that one, I bet.

I don't know, I sort of follow those 'Canadian' faux-pas, even here in Germany. I do believe there is a lack of Umbrella ettiquette here.

What were they drinking before the tequila? 4 doesnt need years of sustained practice

I guess they forgot to actually tell the Germans about this one. It seems like whenever I see a no smoking sign there is someone standing next to it smoking. And as for asking people nearby in restaurants if it's ok to smoke, I'll believe it when I see it!!

And pigs might fly!

I wonder what embarrassing situations arise if one follows those 'tips.'

Actually, this habit derives from cheering people of a different guild ("Innung").
Nobody wanted to be friends with members of a different guild. When drinking together you "have to" cling your glasses together. But to show your dislike to the others you put your glass back on the table before drinking.

Even though nowadays it is regarded as friendly behavior, but usually only "Prolls" use it.

this is an interesting one actually. OK, well not really but there is a story attached to it. Back in "Ye Olden Dayes" fishermen used to supplement their income during the winter months (when they couldn't fish as often) by making and selling matches. The expression came about by implying that if you didn't use matches you deprived the fishermen of their income and they would starve to death.

Probably about 10 beers...

Yes Canadians seem to be a sensitive bunch.


Buddy I'd watch it. Newfoundland has a totally different set of faux-pas than the mainland and a mainlander calling a Newfoundlander a Newfie is one of them.

Exactly. It's too bad things like "not holding doors open for women/elderly/people in general" or "refusing to allow women/people exit their row into the aisle on the bus/airplane" or "not saying please and thank you" aren't considered faux pas in this country.

Bullshit. Look at the sideways swivel on the U-Bahn to let people out of the inner seats. I see it EVERY day!

Are these mentioned on other countries' list?

MT - Just cause they don't want their toes tread on, or shoes ruined!

women in a separate category to people? Not sure if that should be interpreted as a compliment or an insult to women

Probably not, but then it's not in many other countries that saying "please" and "thank you" is an exception rather than the rule.

Yes, I hate women. Women suck. Insult insult insult all the way.

It's absolutely not a stupid list.

Do you want to be responsible for the death of a fisherman when lighting a cigarette? Eh?
That's a very serious thing!

BTW, it also causes cancer to light a cigarette on a candle.

Also, the putting down the glass after clinking glasses is essential.
There's abt. 100 different explanations for it - I prefer this one:
it's for earthening, so to speak thanking god (or the gods, depends on whatever religion you are into ) for the nice beer...

Being German makes me probably a bit blindeyed about the situation but, saying "thank you" and "please" is actually very normal with the people I usually communicate with. I would regard it as unpolite either if not adressed properly. But it doesn't happen to me very often I don't get tretaed nicely. But maybe my bodystature helps with it.

I think the point is more that English speaking people tend to say please and thanks all the time, for things that just doesn't warrant it hear and may seem out of place. I actually only noticed it when I first went home after a year in germany.

What's your body stature?

He's saying he's a big old lad, or actually maybe he's saying he's a midget

Usually I'm a mean looking giant

I'm generally quite polite to mean looking giants.

Gotta love those kinds of etiquette lists that are mostly detached from reality. Clinking glasses is obviously not a habit exclusive to Germany and I for one believe that you really should loook into the other persons eyes, it's just a matter of tact. In Russia, women should always clink last with a stranger - this is supposed to bring them luck in love.