# American spies discovered because of their table manners? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 4, 2005, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-spies-discovered-because-of-their-table-manners/292885 "2005-03-04T12:26:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-spies-discovered-because-of-their-table-manners/292885/21 "2005-03-04T18:30:39Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Ooh, that was good one! IIRC, the Gestapo guy ended their conversation by saying (in English) “Good day!” The escaping POW instinctively responded with something like “You too, pal.” > :smack: > > It was a dirty trick, but a freakin’ brilliant one. The irony was that that character (I believe it was Flt. Lt. MacDonald) had previously criticized another escapee during training for making the same mistake. I love this exchange between Brosnan and Colburn: > [@](#): > > Sedgwick: Danny, do you speak Russian? > Danny: A little, but only one sentence. > Sedgwick: Well, let me have it, mate. > Danny: Ia vas liubliu. > Sedgwick: Ia ia vas… > Danny: Liubliu. > Sedgwick: Liubliu? Ia vas liubliu. Ia vas liubliu. What’s it mean? > Danny: I love you. > Sedgwick: “Love you.” What bloody good is that? > Danny: I don’t know, I wasn’t going to use it myself. In regard to the OP, there’s this [recent thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=304675&highlight=table+manners) on the same issue. I posed a doubt similar to the OP. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![charizard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charizard/32/4166_2.png) [@charizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charizard)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-spies-discovered-because-of-their-table-manners/292885/22 "2005-03-04T18:43:32Z")
> [@jsleek](#): > > Another story has Americans in Europe being discovered when they jungle coins in their pickets as they walk. I don’t know if it has had anything to do with catching spies, but I’ve heard that the habit of keeping ones hand in ones pockets is itself an Americanism. ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-spies-discovered-because-of-their-table-manners/292885/23 "2005-03-04T19:40:23Z")
Another problem with tis story is that in all my reading on the subject, I’ve never seen reference to OSS or SOE sending more than a handful of US or Commonwealth spies to Germany. There were spies there, but mostly recruited from within German society. OSS and SOE teams were much more active in Occupied Europe, France especially. They would have to pass as Frenchmen, Czechs, or Dutch, where such subtleties as regional accents are less important; the Gestapo officer isn’t likely to know it themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-spies-discovered-because-of-their-table-manners/292885/24 "2005-03-05T21:21:59Z")
the safest disguise (frequently used by PoW) was a foreign worker, of whom many thousands were in Germany, voluntarily or otherwise. This would account for the accented German. ---
**Author:** ![galen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-spies-discovered-because-of-their-table-manners/292885/25 "2005-03-06T16:21:12Z")
> [@An Arky](#): > > Dunno about your question, but if they wanted to not have their spies discovered that way, they could just use left-handed spies. I’m left-handed, and I eat like a good German, though I’m a 'merkin. [You are?](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=merkin) ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-spies-discovered-because-of-their-table-manners/292885/26 "2005-03-06T18:24:21Z")
> [@galen](#): > > [You are?](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=merkin) Whew! For a minute there, I thought we were going to have another “ **Number Six** / **Kaitlyn** ” exposure. Maybe he’s going to run for President. “Mein Furher! I can walk!” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-spies-discovered-because-of-their-table-manners/292885/27 "2005-03-06T18:37:39Z")
> [@Mk VII](#): > > the safest disguise (frequently used by PoW) was a foreign worker, of whom many thousands were in Germany, voluntarily or otherwise. This would account for the accented German. Right. Once they “know” you’re a “foreigner”, all sorts of oddities are explained. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-spies-discovered-because-of-their-table-manners/292885.md?page=1)