6 Habits That Other Cultures Would Consider Rude

Last Updated on December 12, 2020

3. Loudly Blowing Your Nose In Public

When you are sick, sometimes you feel the urge to blow your nose as hard as possible to relieve nasal congestion. It makes you feel great aftward. But if you’re in France, China, Japan, or Saudi Arabia, you might want to think twice before doing it since locals consider it highly disgusting. You should also use disposable tissues instead of handkerchiefs if you don’t want people to find you repulsive.

4. Common Gestures

When talking to other people, we naturally use gestures, eye movement, body posture, and other nonverbal communication methods to express or convey information. The problem is that some aspects of body language can have different interpretations according to where we are on the globe. Here are some common examples:

• Thumbs up: in Russia, Greece, Latin America, Western Africa, and the Middle East, a thumbs up is regarded as a variation of giving the middle finger. Be careful with that one!
• Hands in pockets: in Turkey and South Korea, keeping your hand in your pockets while shaking another person’s hand is considered very disrespectful.
• Being extra touchy: respect for one’s personal space is very important in certain cultures. So, if you are from a country where touch is synonymous with warmth, affection, and friendship, you have to consider that it may not be seen in the same way in other places.
• OK sign: in Germany, France, Brazil, Turkey, and Venezuela, the OK sign is used as an insult. It means “asshole” – and you don’t want to be that weird tourist that is calling people names for absolutely no reason, do you?

5. Eating Everything On Your Plate

If you’re in China or if a Chinese friend of yours invites you to dinner, never eat all the food on your plate as the host will think that they didn’t offer you enough food and that you were not satisfied with the meal provided. However, this mindset is likely to change soon due to all the awareness to avoid food waste. On the contrary, in some cultures, the host may feel disrespected if you leave leftover food on the plate. This can happen in countries like India, for example. Here are some other eating habits that you need to be cautious with depending on your location:

• Rejecting food/drinksAsking for condimentsTaking the first biteIn India, Morocco, and some parts of Africa and the Middle East, it is considered rude to use the left hand to eat.

6. Sit in the back of the taxi

In many countries, jumping in the back of a taxi is standard procedure. Many taxi drivers also prefer it that way for safety reasons. But in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, and the Netherlands, taxi drivers find people who go for the backseat snob. If you plan on visiting any of those countries in the near future, you already know you have to ride shotgun! _ It’s important to mention that with the boom in tourism over the last few decades, most people are much more open-minded and aware of the cultural differences. However, as we said at the beginning, it is always good to be conscious of these cultural nuances as a tourist and adapt your behavior as much as you can. This adjustment is a great sign of respect.