# Why are Americans so Loud? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 20, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877 "2010-06-20T15:52:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/61 "2010-06-23T04:25:58Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I traveled around the world for 6 months and the Europeans I continually met in Asia often agreed on one thing, Israelis are loud and obnoxious. In America those views would be considered antisemitic but in this context their stereotype was based on nationality and was no different than saying the French are rude or English food sucks I’ve never had any problems with Israelis myself, although in many East Asian cities they are known to run the “street-vendor mafia,” and I have seen this personally in Osaka. They don’t run it in Thailand, but here in Bangkok many backpacker guesthouses flat-out refuse to accept any guest carrying an Israeli passport. No politics involved, just bad past experiences with Israeli guests. Heated arguments over the bill is a common theme mentioned. (Conversely, there are certain guesthouses in the Khao San Road area that seem to target Israelis, who flock to them, which I hope al-Qaeda never finds out about. They would make a good target :eek:) And putting up with obnoxious Israelis was one reason a Thai couple I was friends with back in the 1980s up North gave for finally shutting their restaurant and moved on to other endeavors. Not all were obnoxious; Lak, the lady of the couple, even put a few Middle East dishes on her menu that Israeli travelers had taught her to cook. But finally they partially blamed obnoxious Israelis for their burnout, although I don’t recall any specifics. Never been to Israel myself, but the wife has a couple of times, for weeks at a time, for work on a project she was in charge of that was receiving assistance from Hebrew University, and she never had any bad experiences with Israelis there. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/62 "2010-06-23T05:36:02Z")
First of all, of course it’s easy to recognize Israelis, We’re quite distinct, for better or for worse. Second of all, you have to understand the unique nature of Israeli tourism to the Far East, and to Thailand in particular. It’s something between a tradition and a cliche that after completing their three years or more of compulsory military service, all recently demobilized Israeli kids want to do is go as far away from home as possible, lie on a beach somewhere and blow off steam. What you get, as a result, is a huge group of kids aged 21-22, who have just exited a highly structured environment and want to do all of the stuff they hadn’t been allowed to do since graduating from high school in a place where nothing they do will have any impact on their future lives. Penis ensues. (Myself, I went to Europe - but I’m weird that way. I like museums). ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/63 "2010-06-23T07:48:28Z")
There is a degree to the loudness that I think has only been touched upon so far, but that I think is very important. That is the loudness that is attached to a certain kind of personality, which makes it not just a matter of volume, but a complete package. Americans, in my experience, are generally very sure of who they are and what they like, something which I see as a result of the American entrepreneur culture. Americans are not hindered by self-consciousness. Here in Scandinavia, I think the level of self-doubt, awkwardness and questioning is higher. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/64 "2010-06-23T10:33:42Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > As I expected. You fucking clown, as if no one outside of the Middle East can discern Hebrew. Personal insults don’t belong in this forum, **Sitnam**. This is a formal warning, so please don’t do this again. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/65 "2010-06-23T17:59:26Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > First of all, of course it’s easy to recognize Israelis, We’re quite distinct, for better or for worse. > > Second of all, you have to understand the unique nature of Israeli tourism to the Far East, and to Thailand in particular. It’s something between a tradition and a cliche that after completing their three years or more of compulsory military service, all recently demobilized Israeli kids want to do is go as far away from home as possible, lie on a beach somewhere and blow off steam. What you get, as a result, is a huge group of kids aged 21-22, who have just exited a highly structured environment and want to do all of the stuff they hadn’t been allowed to do since graduating from high school in a place where nothing they do will have any impact on their future lives. Penis ensues. > > (Myself, I went to Europe - but I’m weird that way. I like museums). Well, that’d be like thinking Americans were all loud drunken party-hardy kids, if you have been hit with Spring Break. Yes, Spring Breakers are pretty bad to be around. But it not because they are Americans. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/66 "2010-06-23T19:43:28Z")
I’m travelling to Europe in a few months. However, I’ll be travelling solo, so I’ll have disappointingly few opportunities to be loud. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/67 "2010-06-23T20:52:22Z")
A similar thread I started a couple of years ago [Do Americans talk louder in public than other English speakers?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=472422) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/68 "2010-06-23T20:57:43Z")
So there we were, at the base of the Thunderhouse Falls portage in northern Ontario, Canada, when we heard what sounded like an aluminum canoe sliding down the rocks of the steep portage path. Turns out that was exactly what we were hearing. A beat up old Grumman came bouncing down the trail, followed by a very large, very hairy sasquatch looking fellow, who introduced himself to us by bellowing “What’s hi in th’ middle an’ round on th’ ends? O-Hi-O! An’ that’s me, O-hi-o, from Ten-nes-see.” He then made his way down the rapids by bashing over the rocks, rather than going around them, hollering out a storm all the way down. Several days later, we were sleeping in a boxcar in Moosonee, with our canoes stacked at the other end of the boxcar. In the middle of the night, Ohio from Tennessee threw is canoe on top of the stack (you have no idea how noisy an aluminum canoe is), while bellowing out his introduction again. He then rolled out his bedroll, lay down at the base of the stacked canoes, and started to snore, and SNORE, and SNORE!!! Now I can’t say as to how it might have happened, or by whom it might have been caused, but shortly thereafter, the stack of canoes somehow collapsed upon O-hi-o from Ten-nes-see, quieting him quite nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/69 "2010-06-23T21:05:46Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > I’m an American, and I have been told I’m loud. By other Americans. > > At any rate, it is generally agreed that as a whole, Americans tend to be loud talkers. > > Why should this be? Did our pioneer forefathers have to yell over great distances to be heard? Do we have to interrupt each other to get a word in edgewise, and therefore we have to talk over one another? Is it sixty years of Rock and Roll pounding our eardrums to tatters? Is it an innate fear of wearing puffy shirts? > > Or do non-Americans just talk too damn soft? WELL, I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I JUST FINISHED CONTACTING A GOVERNMENT AGENCY ON THE PHONE AND I HAD TO…oh sorry, it was one of those things where you have to keep shouting (and spelling) your name into a VR system, and my name is a difficult one…gets frustrating I can tell you! ---
**Author:** ![Add99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/977dab/32.png) [@Add99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Add99)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/70 "2010-06-24T16:42:27Z")
I know 3 loud people. 1. A framer. I get it. Outside, power tools, hearing damage. 2. My sister. Raving lunatic. Look at me look at me. I get it. 3. Anthony. Dude. What is wrong with you. I don’t get it. I meet lots of people (Americans). 1 out of every 50 is insanely loud for whatever reason. I don’t know why. I do agree with the idea of sending them abroad, however. For good. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/71 "2010-06-25T03:16:16Z")
I knew one guy back in college, we’d call him the Incredible Decibel Man. (Yes, he was American.) ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/72 "2010-06-25T16:38:49Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > And how do they know they are Israelis? If I remember right, us Americans went over about 65 years ago and convinced the Europeans to stop making them wear those yellow star things. It was one of those little cultural awareness programs, starring Patton and the 6th Army,and a host of others. 😉 FFS, if we really _must_ have a “we saved your asses in WW2” brag in every thread about the USA (and it seems we must) at least get your facts right. Patton led the [7th Army and then the 3rd Army](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton) in WW2. Don’t just pull random armies out of your ass, m’k? :dubious: > [@Snag](#): > > We built the first guitar amplifiers and have been loving the result ever since. Ah, too true. As I said to my mate at the Shonen Knife gig last month, a fuzzed up electric guitar is the sound of freedom. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/73 "2010-06-25T17:05:38Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > Well, but some nationalities/ethnicities are stereotyped as being more quiet and demure, like the Japanese… Having lived there for a year I can tell you this is a steretype that does _not_ hold true upon examination. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/74 "2010-06-25T17:16:42Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Do people speaking in languages we don’t sound louder because it sounds like gibberish too us, which is annoying? I’m curious if we’re unconsciously chalking up our irratation that we can’t comprehend them as being noisier. Maybe someone who frequently encounters tourists who speak other languages they don’t but _don’t_ find loud can weigh in too. I have worked in many places with tourists, Americans, and currently I work at a school with a large international student body as well as American kids. EVERYONE is a loud jerk when on a cellphone, there is no single type of person I can think of, where I haven’t seen someone from said group being a loud jerk on a cell phone. I think it’s a combination of confirmation bias, and languages we don’t understand and don’t hear too much sounding more “jarring”. I hear 20-30 foreign languages I am not familiar with every day, they are all the same volume level. Another huge factor is no doubt that tourists are always annoying as hell. A family of three standing side by side completely blocking a mall corridor and walking .0002 mph, fanny packs, making you walk around their dorky photos… it’s very easy to notice someone who is already liable to be annoying and notice they’re also a loud ignorant jackass. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/75 "2010-06-26T01:01:56Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > Well, but some nationalities/ethnicities are stereotyped as being more quiet and demure, like the Japanese > [@Frylock](#): > > Having lived there for a year I can tell you this is a steretype that does _not_ hold true upon examination. Thais, also. These are some FUCKING LOUD PEOPLE, but they view themselves as quiet and demure. It simply ain’t true. They loves them some noise and lots of it and simply can’t understand the silly old foreigner who loves his peace and quiet. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/76 "2010-06-26T01:06:38Z")
> [@jinty](#): > > FFS, if we really _must_ have a “we saved your asses in WW2” brag in every thread about the USA (and it seems we must) at least get your facts right. Patton led the [7th Army and then the 3rd Army](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton) in WW2. Don’t just pull random armies out of your ass, m’k? That is what we Americans like to call a “joke”, note the little emoticon at the end, often called a “smily” for just that reason. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/77 "2010-06-26T17:04:36Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That is what we Americans like to call a “joke”, note the little emoticon at the end, often called a “smily” for just that reason. And when I said “pull random armies out of your ass”, I was being totally serious. Or do you _need_ to see a smily before you’ll consider something a joke? OK, here it is again… Don’t just pull random armies out of your ass, m’k? 🙂 That better? ---
**Author:** ![Dick\_Dastardly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@Dick\_Dastardly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dick_Dastardly)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/78 "2010-06-28T17:31:07Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Having lived there for a year I can tell you this is a steretype that does _not_ hold true upon examination. True, but we’re still much louder. Japan is an absolutely brilliant country though. Those people know how to enjoy themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Ulladullian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/4491bb/32.png) [@Ulladullian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulladullian)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/79 "2016-01-26T10:33:21Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > Well, but some nationalities/ethnicities are stereotyped as being more quiet and demure, like the Japanese, or the Norwegians. People rarely complain about Scandinavians being “loud.” So the point is, I think there is some truth to the idea that Americans are in general louder than some other cultures. > > My WAG as to why is that I think we (Americans) are a bit more high-spirited and boisterous in general. I found when back packing with a single American is fine but get more than a few together and they talk louder like its some sort of competition to outdo each other We have " Yobo" ( loud) Australians as well; many of which are " red necks"…big mouths ( brain not engaged talking rubbish…)… Red necks have little thought to the future or respect for others not " in their group" ( mind set) They tend to be dumber rather than Intellectually in linclined…I’m no snob however find their arrogance and ignorance offensive…so I avoid them. Typically they drink too much and smoke and have a love of firearms and violent movies. Sounds like Donald Trump and Sarah Palin don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![Ulladullian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/4491bb/32.png) [@Ulladullian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulladullian)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877/80 "2016-01-26T10:57:10Z")
During Vietnam war I was told by two Australian army personnel they disliked being with the Americans because of a night they would turn Up their transistor radios and SMOKE in the DARK so the Vietcong would know where to shoot…talk about dumb; maybe they just wanted to get killed; o and they’d be talking LOUD to! God dam it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-americans-so-loud/543877.md?page=5)