# Offending people when abroad



## Hooked (9/1/19)

*17 ways you're actually offending people when abroad*
www.msn.com/en-za/travel/news/17-ways-youre-actually-offending-people-when-abroad

This is really interesting and very useful indeed!

*1. Give flowers in even numbers*
Giving flowers in even numbers is considered extremely unlucky in Russia as this is a custom reserved for funerals.


*2. Leave the house with a cold*
If you're out in Japan and suffering from a terrible cold then you are highly likely to receive some menacing looks for getting out your Kleenex. Here, it is viewed as disgusting to blow your nose in public - the Japanese word for snot is literally 'nose excrement' (and that's putting it politely). It's best to excuse yourself to the restroom and sort yourself out privately.

_[my comment: "nose excrement" - how apt!]_


*3. Give a thumbs up*
A thumbs up gesture in Iran, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Italy and Greece actually means "up yours". In fact, in Iran this is called a bilakh and literally means "sit on this". 

_[Whew! And we use the thumbs up so often, even in Whatsapp messages]_

@RenaldoRheeder is this true about Nigeria?


*4. Arrive on time*
In Argentina you can embrace your tardiness in all its glory; arriving to a dinner date anything sooner than half an hour late will make you seem greedy.

_[I'd be really hangry if my dinner date arrived half an hour late!]_


*5. Sit in the back of a taxi*
If you're hailing a taxi alone in Australia and New Zealand, it's best to hop in the front seat next to the driver if you want to avoid looking like a snob. This means you accept the driver more as a pal rather than a chauffeur. 


*6. Clear your plate*
In China, it is customary to leave a small amount of food on your plate as it shows your host that they have given you more than enough to eat. You can also forget all your table manners and belch after a meal - it shows the chef that what they cooked was satisfying!

_[I lived in China for 6 years and it's the first that I've heard about leaving food on one's plate. I wish my Mom were still here to read this. When I think of all the times that she said, "Don't leave food on your plate. There are hungry children in China!" _

_The belching - yes, that's true, but nevertheless people do it quietly. Isn't it the same in Greece? It shows how much you enjoyed your food?]_


*7. Use chopsticks*
Chopsticks are a tricky custom to navigate in that they are riddled with etiquette rules; the more you hold your chopsticks apart from your food the more sophisticated you are, you musn't cross them over each other and definitely don't point them at people. But above all, avoid putting your chopsticks upright in a bowl full of rice as chopsticks and rice are left by the bedside of the recently deceased as a funeral ritual.



_
[I don't know what they mean by holding the chopsticks apart from the food, even when I look at the pic which they gave, but the rest is true. Placing your chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice is particularly serious and it is so ingrained (pun intended) in me, that to this day I can't bring myself to do it, even when I'm alone at home!]

_
*8. Get sassy*
Known to many as "talk to the hand (...because the face ain't listening)", extending your hand palm-first in Greece is known as the 'moutza' and is highly offensive and insulting. It is linked to the Byzantine Empire, when prisoners were subject to having excrement and dirt smeared across their faces. It is so serious, in fact, the Greeks don't even wave hi or bye with an open hand. So unless you wish to tell someone "I'd like to rub faeces on your face", best to keep your hands to yourself.

_[I wonder what Greeks think when they go abroad and see a traffic policeman on duty at an intersection where the traffic lights aren't working? They must be horrified!]_


_*9. Let out your inner rock god(dess)*_
The 'rock on!' gesture that is favoured among heavy metal fans should be avoided at all costs in Italy, Spain, Portugal and some parts of South America. Do this and you are effectively accusing the man you are directing it to as having been cheated on by his wife. And no one wants to be the bearer of that bad news.





*10. Use your left hand*
Bad news to all the left-handed people wishing to visit the Middle East and India: if you eat, present a gift or touch someone with your left hand, don't be surprised if people visibly recoil from you. People usually clean themselves with their left hand, leaving it 'permanently dirty', so doing anything else with it here is pretty disgusting.

_[True about the Middle East but didn't know that it's the same in India, as not everyone there is Moslem. Anyone care to comment? @Faiyaz Cheulkar?]_


*11. Curl your finger*
Beckoning someone with a curled finger is a detainable offence in the Philippines as you are essentially recognizing them as a dog. You can even have your finger broken off as punishment.

_

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_[Oh my word - in all the movies this is a sexy gesture lol]_


_*12. Smile at strangers*_
In Korea, smiling at a stranger is a way of telling them you think they are stupid as this is typically how you would greet a child.

_[The other day I read that in France people think that you're stupid if you smile while talking to them. They must think that we have zero intelligence, because we smile all the time = even when it's a false smile.]_

_*13. Show some affection*_
In Dubai and Saudi Arabia kissing, hugging and any form of public affection between partners is a criminal offence. Get caught being too touchy-feely in the street and you could be ending your holiday shackled together in jail!

_[Public affection is a no-no throughout the Middle East and China, for that matter]_


*14. Open gifts*
In China and India, you must resist any urge to open a present that has just been gifted to you. Opening a gift in front of the person who you received it from is very rude and considered extremely greedy.

_[Agree about China and furthermore, you should give the gift with both hands to show that you have a genuine desire to give.]_


_*15. Wee in the sea*_
This may seem an obvious 'don't' around the world, but if you get caught relieving yourself on the Portuguese coast you will be breaking the law. And it isn't exactly bad*** to have a criminal record for public urination.


*16. Eat in public*
In Rwanda and Japan, it is considered rude to eat anywhere that isn't a restaurant, bar or hotel. Eating your breakfast on the commute to work? Don't do it. Ice cream in the park on a hot day? No sir.


*17. Play childish games*
We are most familiar with this gesture from our dads never-ending game of 'got your nose'. But try this with a Turkish child and you can expect a punch in the face from their protective parents. In Turkey, the index finger-tucked-into-the-palm is equivalent to the middle finger.

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_[A game of Got your Nose? Who's heard of that or played it? That's certainly not what this gesture means to me!]_

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