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I often wonder if part of America's productivity can be attributed to the shortness of this list. It's just a handful of expressions that are mildly misleading. In other cultures, you have to get together with friends over dinner to discuss the hidden meaning of a single suspect word your boss had used that day. High context cultures take a lot of mental effort.
I often wonder if part of America's productivity can be attributed to the shortness of this list. It's just a handful of expressions that are mildly misleading. In other cultures, you have to get together with friends over dinner to discuss the hidden meaning of a single suspect word your boss had used that day. High context cultures take a lot of mental effort.
This is great. I think we need phrasebooks for all cultures. I'm Indian, and a Chinese friend was pissed that Indians say "yes" and never do it. I think it's a cultural no-no in India to say "no" to someone's face. I finally realised that a short "yes" most probably means "yes", and a long-drawn out "yes" probably means "no".
I laughed. For a Chinese person to give any other culture shit about this is hilarious. The only thing foreign businesspeople in Shanghai complain more about than people saying they’ll do something and then forgetting or ghosting them is poor quality control/fraud.
Yup. One of the great mysteries of the world is how Americans think they are so straightforward and direct and honest... and then they ask a German if their butt looks big in these pants, and burst into tears on hearing the answer. On a mildly more serious note, I remember well my first ever serious business meeting in the US, where we pitched a potential joint venture to another company. 30 minutes of mutual praise…
I've never heard of Americans thinking/saying they were direct. In my case I see our culture as the opposite, as this page seems to demonstrate. Corporate double-speak is a well-known thing here (I presume its similar in many places, but I don't know), and I'm sure most people like me were taught "if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all". A common trope in child programs when I grew up was th…
Of course, there was a very common character trope with some kid who was told "Honesty is always the best policy," and who then proceeded to go around telling people (e.g.) that yes, their butts did in fact look too big. inevitably annoying all the adults they were honest with.
To any foreigners wondering, no, none of us enjoy the fake corporate double-speak either. Things like asking, "How are you?" and never wanting an actual answer are of course too engrained in our culture for most of us to even notice. But the extreme levels this gets taken to in the corporate setting is almost offensive. In the worst offenders, any exchange even close to approaching confrontational is liable to get you labeled as "difficult to work with." But this has almost less to do with our general culture, and more to do with corporations' need for bland, compliant, agreeable clone-employees.
Then I realized how many people on here aren’t native English speakers, and might need years of socialization to understand these nuances. Bravo
This is great. I think we need phrasebooks for all cultures. I'm Indian, and a Chinese friend was pissed that Indians say "yes" and never do it. I think it's a cultural no-no in India to say "no" to someone's face. I finally realised that a short "yes" most probably means "yes", and a long-drawn out "yes" probably means "no".
A good friend of mine from Japan said something similar: if someone says "we will do our best", it means "ain't gonna happen." I can sympathize with this! I have such a hard time saying "no", even (or especially) when that is what must be said. In any case, keep in mind that this is a fake phrasebook made for the sake of humor. It doesn't depict how Americans actually speak with each other, it's just all in fun.
I'd love to see one of these for Australian English, although I don't think it would be possible. Aussies have a love of metaphor a simile that's unmatched in any other dialect of English, especially if you hang out with bogans (basically Australian Rednecks, for lack of a better description). It's basically the opposite of America, where instead of trying to be excessively polite, we try to be excessively offensive.…
There also needs to be a section on Americans aversion to discussing bodily functions. "restroom", "powder my nose"?