# What are our cultural hang-ups? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 16, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796 "2011-10-16T04:53:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/61 "2011-10-17T03:06:49Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > In the rest of the world the burial is done very quickly, and so is less elaborate. Rest of the world, huh? Posting here in East Asia, AFAIK that’s really not the case. The whole funeral process can take a month, it seems to me . . . ---
**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:** [October 17, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/62 "2011-10-17T03:25:40Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > Western funeral practices are very odd compared to most of the world. We tend to have the funeral many days after the death. In the rest of the world the burial is done very quickly, and so is less elaborate. The idea that you would turn a (dead) loved one over to a paid professional for treatment with chemicals seems very unloving. Ok but what could a Qatari do inadventantly at an American funeral or wake that they mightn’t necessarily realise was a faux pas? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/63 "2011-10-17T03:31:40Z")
Ululate? ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/64 "2011-10-17T09:24:54Z")
Nobody’s mentioned burping and farting. I’d think that’s something that might be okay some places but would clear the room here. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2011, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/65 "2011-10-17T09:32:21Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > - don’t come to someone’s house empty-handed - bring something like a bottle of wine or a cake. Even when you are just calling in for a cup of tea you are normally expected to bring _something_. I’m sure that goes for a lot of cultures, but I remember that being particularly important when I l was living in Ireland. This is more or less true all over Ireland, but it’s not an absolute given. In Dublin at least, it depends on the occasion. It’s a lovely gesture but you won’t be thrown out if you come emptyhanded. I had assumed that this sort of thing was universal but Mrs. Gadaí pointed out it was rather rarer in the US than here. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/66 "2011-10-17T10:00:19Z")
In Somalia and some other African nations if you want attention in a shop or other public space you click your fingers. In the UK this would be considered very bad manners - ie. to stand at the reception desk and snap your fingers to get the attention of the staff. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/67 "2011-10-17T10:38:38Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > Nobody’s mentioned burping and farting. I’d think that’s something that might be okay some places but would clear the room here. I’m not quite sure the extent of which this is old colonialist cliché/myth or reality, but they say in North Africa it’s supposedly impolite \*not \*to burp loudly after a good meal, to inform the host that you were well fed and they can be proud of their hospitality. Yeah, I’m thinking this wouldn’t go over too well in Europe or the US, either. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2011, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/68 "2011-10-17T11:16:00Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Ok seriously was my OP that bad? I’m asking what is it that “foreigners” (ie non-anglo americans for want of a better term) need to know about Britain and the US so as not to offend the locals? > The only one so far has been the tipping thing, although that’s only a thing AFAIK in the US and not elsewhere in the Anglosphere. No, you just don’t seem to get that all these are answering your question. If we have to adjust to them, then they have to adjust “backwards” to us. There’s not going to be a trait that’s universally weird to every other country. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/69 "2011-10-17T11:19:56Z")
OK, there is something which has been mentioned time and again but which strikes me as strange, because damnit, it was the Americans who started it, every time! Several people here have mentioned that in America you don’t talk about how much you make, but it came up much more for me in the US than it has in other countries, and often in contexts where I couldn’t see the logic of it at all. So, like politics or religion, it’s one of those things which “depends”: my advice to foreigners would be _don’t bring it up, and have a few evasive answers ready for when someone else does and you’d like to say “none of you business”._ ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/70 "2011-10-17T11:43:02Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > This is more or less true all over Ireland, but it’s not an absolute given. In Dublin at least, it depends on the occasion. It’s a lovely gesture but you won’t be thrown out if you come emptyhanded. I had assumed that this sort of thing was universal but Mrs. Gadaí pointed out it was rather rarer in the US than here. it depends on the reason for the visit. if it’s just for a chat, or you’re picking someone up to go somewhere, then no. If it’s for lunch/dinner or something like a sports or game night, then in my experience it’s rather more common (but not always expected) to bring something. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/71 "2011-10-17T11:43:46Z")
Never wipe your food with your left hand. …No, Wait - :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/72 "2011-10-17T11:55:10Z")
If you have any swastika-adorned clothing or jewelry, it might give rise to misunderstandings in the US or Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/73 "2011-10-17T13:08:24Z")
Some cultural differences across the EU that I’ve noticed: [ul] [li]Personal space in the UK is a lot different to that of other cultures, especially as you go further south in Europe. Stand your distance. We’re not sumo wrestling, we’re talking.[/li][li]No kissing when you first meet people. This goes double for men. At most, a handshake may be given.[/li][li]Queuing is an absolute must. You do not push in front of people who have been queuing patiently for ten minutes. This is literally one thing that will nearly cause a riot amongst every strata of British society, from the richest to the poorest. Perhaps the most insulting thing you can do to a Briton is push in front of them in a line. Just do not do it. You may think we haven’t noticed. We have. Your card is marked as soon as you’re identified as a queue jumper.[/li][li]Turn up on time. If somebody says meet at 10am, that means they want you to meet at 10am, not ten or fifteen minutes later. Turning up late is considered very rude.[/li][li]Wait until everybody has their meal at a restaurant before you start on your own. Usually the whole table starts eating together.[/li][/ul] ---
**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:** [October 17, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/74 "2011-10-17T13:31:28Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > No, you just don’t seem to get that all these are answering your question. If we have to adjust to them, then they have to adjust “backwards” to us. There’s not going to be a trait that’s universally weird to every other country. Eh no I don’t think so, not really. Some of these cultural differences reflect a two-sided thing. Like haggling, in some countries you’ll annoy locals if you \*don’t \*haggle, whereas especially in chain stores, it’s likely to annoy in the English speaking world. There are other rituals, habits, quirks etc. whose presence or absense wouldn’t register much one way or another. They’re just not taboo for want of a better term. For example, Jjimm suggested “Blowing one’s nose in public is considered disgusting in some Asian countries.” A person from one of those countries, eschewing public nose blowing in the US or Britain or Ireland, wouldn’t be likely to offend anyone’s sensibilities. No “backwards” adjustment required in order not to offend Joe America or Winston English. My favourite one so far is the going into someone’s house and turning on the TV one. I’m not sure that there’s anywhere that that’s acceptable but here it would definitely register on the WTF-o-meter. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/75 "2011-10-17T14:26:54Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Turn up on time. If somebody says meet at 10am, that means they want you to meet at 10am, not ten or fifteen minutes later. Turning up late is considered very rude. Not always. Maybe for business meetings or if you are meeting someone somewhere where they’d have to wait, but if you are told a party starts at eight and you arrive at eight you will almost certainly be the first person there. Times for dinner parties are, in my experience, set for an hour before food is on the table, allowing for people to turn up late. In fact, I’d say this is one area in which the UK differs to other cultures. I certainly fell foul of it in Sweden when I first moved here. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/76 "2011-10-17T14:32:19Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > So if an American asks you about where you’re from, where your parents are from, etc, they aren’t being prying, suspicious, or racist. In my experience, when an American asks that they are usually being prying, suspicious, and racist, but that’s a subject for a different thread. To the OP, interrupting. In the US, at least, it’s considered rude to start talking over someone without waiting for them to finish speaking first. I’ve heard this is not true across cultures and for some, there’s nothing wrong with not waiting your turn to start speaking. Also lines. Americans tend to believe in waiting in lines or on queue or whatever you want to call it. Pushing your way to the front is generally not appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/77 "2011-10-17T15:20:07Z")
I was hoping someone would help me understand Arab culture a bit more. We have a growing Arab population in the metro Detroit area. They don’t seem friendly at all or interested in adapting some American cultural norms, i.e. personal space (drives me bonkers), please, thank you or excuse me. The ladies just ignore me, but the gentlemen scowl at me in some deeply disapproving way. Please don’t flame me! I tried to find some information, but my Google-fu failed me. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/78 "2011-10-17T15:50:40Z")
> [@stolatt](#): > > I was hoping someone would help me understand Arab culture a bit more. We have a growing Arab population in the metro Detroit area. They don’t seem friendly at all or interested in adapting some American cultural norms, i.e. personal space (drives me bonkers), please, thank you or excuse me. The ladies just ignore me, but the gentlemen scowl at me in some deeply disapproving way. > Please don’t flame me! I tried to find some information, but my Google-fu failed me. I’m not sure what answer you think you’re going to get. Highly observant muslims, like highly observant ANYTHING have fairly strict lifestyle rules and disapporiove of those who don’t follow them. It isn’t complicated. Nor is it different from how a non-Christian feels in highly observant Christian communities. At least they don’t [check you for horns](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=622974&highlight=horns). ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/79 "2011-10-17T16:01:24Z")
Thanks Hello Again. You have a good point. I guess it just didn’t occur to me, given my family’s immigration history and their habits of assimilation. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796/80 "2011-10-17T16:03:48Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I’m not sure what answer you think you’re going to get. Highly observant muslims, like highly observant ANYTHING have fairly strict lifestyle rules and disapporiove of those who don’t follow them. Not ANYTHING. Highly observant Jews have fairly strict lifestyle rules, but do not in any way disapprove of non-Jews who don’t follow such rules. In fact, would look very much askance at any non-Jews who did follow such rules. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-our-cultural-hang-ups/599796.md?page=5)