# Do most Germans need to be arrogant asses when answering questions ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 20, 2013, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206 "2013-04-20T09:58:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/21 "2013-04-20T13:47:23Z")
Germans aren’t as diplomatic for the most part as native English speakers but they’re seldom in my experience deliberately rude or arrogant. They just tell it like it is more, less likely to gloss things over. That approach has its advantages but can seem rude if you’re not used to it. The German in the OP just sounds like a dick. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/22 "2013-04-20T13:49:50Z")
True story. I was at Zion NP and had just hiked up to Angel’s Landing. An extremely hard hike (check out YouTube vids). Back on terra firma I passed an elderly German tourist asking a (female) ranger about the trail difficulty. She replied, “strenuous”. He thought for a moment and responded, “I meant for a male”. She took a moment then repeated that it was rated as strenuous. He looked at her in apparent frustration and said in complete earnestness, “for a GERMAN male”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/23 "2013-04-20T17:17:12Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > True story. I was at Zion NP and had just hiked up to Angel’s Landing. An extremely hard hike (check out YouTube vids). Back on terra firma I passed an elderly German tourist asking a (female) ranger about the trail difficulty. She replied, “strenuous”. He thought for a moment and responded, “I meant for a male”. She took a moment then repeated that it was rated as strenuous. He looked at her in apparent frustration and said in complete earnestness, “for a GERMAN male”. “Not as strenuous as the Eastern Front. More like Bastogne. You’ll think it is easy at first, but you’ll still get your ass kicked by the Americans at the end of the day. Take plenty of water, and no prisoners.” ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/24 "2013-04-20T17:33:02Z")
Having lived in NYC and Berlin, I think there are a lot of similarities. Neither New Yorkers nor Berliners suffer fools easily - ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer. Some might consider them rude, but I like the blunt, direct approach. You know exactly where you stand and there is no danger of miscommunication. Granted, there is often a total absence of political correctness, but sometimes that OK too. BTW, in your example the German was first of all polite and direct, “Private party - go back inside.” and yet you didn’t seem to understand the concept and hesitated…so perhaps he was just helping you understand the big words and put it in a vernacular that he figured you might understand more easily. How many ways do you need to be told to scram? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/25 "2013-04-20T17:51:32Z")
Yes, most Germans need to be arrogant asses when answering questions. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/26 "2013-04-20T18:45:40Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > I generally don’t think of German people as being especially rude and uncivil. In Germany I did not find them so at all. Concur. I spent several days in Dusseldorf and environs, and was treated wonderfully by everyone there, including a bierstube waiter famed for his brusqueness. I wonder if this is a variation of “New Yorkers are rude” - no, they’re not. They just think and move fast and don’t have time to stick a blade of grass in the corner of their mouth and shoot the shit for politeness’s sake. Bumpkins who go to the city (or Der Fatherland) and expect Midwest pleasantry are likely to get a rough ride. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/27 "2013-04-20T19:10:20Z")
I knew a rude and impolite German lady, but I’ve known two other Germans who were always nothing but nice. Confirmation bias on the OP’s part, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/28 "2013-04-20T19:14:32Z")
[Some Germans say nice things.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6mndRtsS88) ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/29 "2013-04-20T19:35:17Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > We would go to a German buffet near Fort Knox for the food and the rude behavior. Maybe abrupt is a better term. > > “I’ll have a Becks.” > “Becks is shit beer I will bring you Warstiner.” > > I also loved the signs posted such as “noisy children will not be tolerated!” Great place. > > I spent two years in Germany and found them very nice. Maybe when they [del]invade[/del] visit other countries they are different. He may have been abrupt but he did save you from having to drink a Beck’s. The U.S. version is just as he stated. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/30 "2013-04-20T19:49:13Z")
Do these Germans look rude to you? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/99dpmiYvKIA/hqdefault.jpg "Beck's Light Beer Commercial") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99dpmiYvKIA) ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/31 "2013-04-20T20:00:16Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Having lived in NYC and Berlin, I think there are a lot of similarities. > > Neither New Yorkers nor Berliners suffer fools easily - ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer. Some might consider them rude, but I like the blunt, direct approach. You know exactly where you stand and there is no danger of miscommunication. Granted, there is often a total absence of political correctness, but sometimes that OK too. > > BTW, in your example the German was first of all polite and direct, “Private party - go back inside.” and yet you didn’t seem to understand the concept and hesitated…so perhaps he was just helping you understand the big words and put it in a vernacular that he figured you might understand more easily. How many ways do you need to be told to scram? Perhaps. But if the OP had replied “oh fuck you, thanks, I get it now” would the guy have thanked him for HIS directness" or been a bit peeved? ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/32 "2013-04-20T20:13:00Z")
This is a hilarious thread. > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > New Yorkers not at all: they let you know that they _could_ be rude, but it’s their art form, so they were no more liable to use it on you than a Japanese would be to fold origami cranes there at the teller’s window. I literally LOLed at this. I have to admit I sometimes use my New York directness superpowers in meetings at work which often include people from around the globe. Many people hem and haw, dancing around issues and seem to be incapable of stating their point of view clearly. New Yorkers have no such difficulty. ---
**Author:** ![MickNickMaggies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@MickNickMaggies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MickNickMaggies)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/33 "2013-04-21T10:18:52Z")
I’ve mentioned before I live right alongside the Rhine (the French side, but I could walk over a footbridge to Germany). There’s actually some local agreement about who’s crazy rude- the Swiss. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/34 "2013-04-21T10:47:28Z")
Different nations have different cultures, news at 11. I wouldn’t hire anyone from the Caribbean for a PR or customer relations role, even my own wife. The few times she has tried to deal with customers for our online business it has been a total trainwreck. Normal customer pleasantries are seen as weakness. I’ve seen the training course for YUM! brand franchisees in the area, it is hundreds of pages of study material that basically sums up as “smile and say you’re welcome”. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/35 "2013-04-21T12:09:46Z")
If you think Germans are rude, try dealing with French-Canadians who are on vacation in south Florida. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/36 "2013-04-21T13:17:13Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > We would go to a German buffet near Fort Knox for the food and the rude behavior. Maybe abrupt is a better term. > > “I’ll have a Becks.” > “Becks is shit beer I will bring you Warstiner.” Did you ever try a similarly abrupt response, like say, “And then I won’t pay you since you brought me the wrong drink.” I’m just curious if they tolerate what they dish out. If they do, I have no problem with them. If not… ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/37 "2013-04-21T18:03:04Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m just curious if they tolerate what they dish out. If they do, I have no problem with them. If not… Oh yes. German to German, they don’t mince words either. Subtle is not a national trait. When you see two German political leaders debating, they are very direct and don’t play nice. Even the local newspapers will be extremely blunt - when, for instance, the local soccer team loses it is not uncommon for the screaming 72 font size headlines in the sports pages the next day to be some kind of variation of “Coach Is An Idiot!” Usually, that sums up the opinion of every sports fan in the city and they are just slamming it in large letters in the paper so the readers can nod and think, “That’s right! Tell him!” For the most part, Germans like to deal with logic in everyday situations. Thus, when someone says or does something that is considered illogical or stupid, they don’t hesitate to let you know what they think about that. That said, they will often use sarcasm that is quite funny to anyone listening in - so it can be quite entertaining to listen into some arguments. Another tidbit - whenever I have German visitors in the USA, they are blown away at how friendly and courteous the Americans are with customer service. They will mention how nasty and unfriendly most customer service is in Germany and bitch about it loudly. However, a good part of that is because Americans often live off of tips, and thus will be nice even to rude/idiotic/assholes. In Germany, employees get a full salary, with health benefits and vacation and sick days, etc. so they don’t particularly give a damn what you think of them as tips are irrelevant (or non-existent). I think anyone reading this who has ever been a server in a restaurant/bar in the US could well envision how they too would treat some of their guests if they didn’t have to worry about offending anyone and not getting a penny in tips! My guess is, many US wait staff would gleefully join in the fun of being direct to customers if they could get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206/38 "2013-04-21T23:36:45Z")
> [@simple\_homer](#): > > When I hesitated he said “private party, fuck off”. Gee, he spoke English like a native. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-most-germans-need-to-be-arrogant-asses-when-answering-questions/656206.md?page=1)