Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why Russians do not smile (2002)

chicagomaroon.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 502 posts

Re: Why Russians do not smile (2002)

#151

Post by zarq »

gsk22 wrote: post #110
firebaze wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't second this. Everytime I'm in the US I'm scared of all the friendly, smiling people, asking "How are you?" in such a friendly tone, it's delightful. Of course it's faked, anyone knows, and dare if you'd reply with "not good, my aunt just died". Awkward situation ensues, everybody tries to get out of the situation ("and what would you like to have for breakfast tomorrow?"). Now replay the same situation in ano…

You're misunderstanding what the phrase "how are you" means in the US. It is not a literal question, but a set phrase with implicit social rules for "correct" responses. This doesn't mean the person asking is faking kindness - but also understand they're not actually asking for a rundown of how your life is going. Negative responses to the question are ok, just not deeply personal answers. Tom Scott has an excellent…

Fun experiment, try asking "how are you" a second time. A lot of Americans will respond instinctively, without wondering why you asked again.

Re: Why Russians do not smile (2002)

#152

Post by daxfohl »

dougmwne wrote: post #13

I wonder if any Russians can weigh in if this still feels accurate. I'm familiar with Polish Culture, which is less fun, frivolous, and happy than American culture, but a smile is certainly not an attack, just reserved for genuine occasions. Service people are in no way expected to smile unless there is some honest reason to.

I spent a couple weeks in Krakow and one thing I noticed was how intensely people maintained eye contact when speaking to you. It seemed to be uniquely Polish, as I didn't notice it in Ukraine, Hungary, Germany, etc. Wondering if anyone else has noticed that or if it was just an anomaly.

Re: Why Russians do not smile (2002)

#153

Post by type0 »

jagrsw wrote: post #84
pmoriarty wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To appear friendly and welcoming, and to show that you're having a good time. People often assume something's wrong if you never smile, or, worse, frown.

I'll try to give you European POV :). People sometimes have good time (better than avg), sometimes bad time, and sometime neutral time (say.. thinking about some problem to solve, or repeating Swedish vocabulary to learn a new language, or trying to recall the name of a person you just met and you're supposed to remember). If you're compelled to smile with every interaction, in order to show that you have good time,…

The real reason is that American smile is relatively new phenomenon that appeared about 100 years ago with the emergence of Hollywood, everyone wanted to act like famous actors and it became a part of the culture. Also the smile in US is a sign of hope, dream, prosperity and individualism. In socialist countries the collective well-being is above the needs of individual so there is no reason to smile all the time.

Re: Why Russians do not smile (2002)

#154

Post by type0 »

swensel wrote: post #78
dougmwne wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basically the article still applies. People who always have a smile on their face are praised as having reached a level of contentment and joy that the rest of us aspire to. That and you'll eventually get fired from your job if you never smile.

Speaking of jobs, at least in America, smiling is helpful even getting the job in the first place.

As it was explained to me by one American: it signals confidence.

Re: Why Russians do not smile (2002)

#155

Post by type0 »

firebaze wrote: post #71
rafaelero wrote: post #54

I had the same impression traveling to Bolivia. I am Brazilian and we generally smile when speaking with someone. But in La Paz people usually had this serious look on their faces and a kind of difficult to approach semblance. I imagined poverty could explain that, but Brazil is a bit poorer than Russia. Maybe instead of poverty, we could think about hardship in a more general sense? I find very hard to believe that…

Russians can be the sincerest friends you know, smiling to you. They also can be your fiercest enemies, still smiling to you. Sometimes I think this is the source of the hollywood/McCarthy myth of bad russians. TL;DR: If all russians would play poker, the world would be broke.

> TL;DR: If all russians would play poker, the world would be broke.

Njet, Teddy Kgb didn't win.

Re: Why Russians do not smile (2002)

#156

Post by type0 »

resoluteteeth wrote: post #73
Clubber wrote: post #38

In the US smiling wasn't as prevalent, at least in photographs. Look at any Civil War era picture and nobody is smiling in their portraits. I'm not sure when that started. I read somewhere that back then people thought people who smiled all the time were "simple minded." Now I can't help thinking that every time I see some marketing copy with some model smiling while playing with soap or something.

Do you also think the world was black and white back then?

In America it's always about white and black, especially people seem to be obsessed with the amount of melanin pigmentation.

Re: Why Russians do not smile (2002)

#157

Post by darkerside »

firebaze wrote: post #74
zeroc8 wrote: post #60

Austrian here, we are somewhat in between Russians and Americans, when it comes to smiling. But what I can tell you is that life is just so much better when people smile at you, even if it might not be a hundred percent genuine. My comparison stems from having worked with both Russians and Americans. Being around grumpy Russians all day long makes live really miserable.

I can't second this. Everytime I'm in the US I'm scared of all the friendly, smiling people, asking "How are you?" in such a friendly tone, it's delightful. Of course it's faked, anyone knows, and dare if you'd reply with "not good, my aunt just died". Awkward situation ensues, everybody tries to get out of the situation ("and what would you like to have for breakfast tomorrow?"). Now replay the same situation in ano…

It's just a different protocol. You don't respond with details right away, you say, "Actually not great" with some emotion. If the person cares, they will ask, what's wrong? Then you unload.

You might as well get mad at HTTP when you send a malformed request.

Re: Why Russians do not smile (2002)

#158

Post by daxfohl »

I've noticed most Russians I work with also speak slowly. I'm curious whether it is difficulty with English pronunciation or whether speaking slowly is part of Russian culture. I'm guessing more the latter, as the the things they say are also frequently quite concise and to the point, no filler words, few adverbs, so no need to speak quickly. Do Russians speak more quickly when speaking Russian?

Re: Why Russians do not smile (2002)

#159

Post by cmrdporcupine »

ArkanExplorer wrote: post #27
dougmwne wrote: post #13

I wonder if any Russians can weigh in if this still feels accurate. I'm familiar with Polish Culture, which is less fun, frivolous, and happy than American culture, but a smile is certainly not an attack, just reserved for genuine occasions. Service people are in no way expected to smile unless there is some honest reason to.

Its down to latitude. The latitude of Warsaw is 52.2° N, which is about the same latitude as northern Canada (Edmonton). Moscow is 55.7, which is the same as southern Alaska. Days are shorter, darker, and colder. It has an impact on your mood. Plus, the average income for a Pole is $18,000/year, whereas for the average White American worker its $40,000/year. Cost of living is often lower in America than in Poland (ex…

See, now, I happen to have grown up in Edmonton, and people there have the same grinning smiling North American culture as anywhere else on the continent. So, meh, no.

And almost half the population there is Ukrainian or Polish descent, too, lots of people only a couple generations or less away from the old country. But people there are pretty mainline North American culture.

Now, my father is German... and I grew up with that rather curt and blunt and critical influence, so.

Post reply on HN