Welcome to the TravelPod forums

[wakingdream]

Have you ever made a cultural faux paus while traveling abroad? Patted someone's head only to catch the meanest glares? Used the wrong hand to eat?

Here's one version of the World’s Worst Cultural Mistakes

In many places it's considered rude to refuse food or drink, in others it's not acceptable to dress 'suggestively'.

What are some other cultural faux-pas you may have encountered or heard about?

[kathryn77]

Cripes! I always try to be courteous with different countries/cultures, but I totally didn't realise my kisses & hugs at the end of messages could be offensive to anyone (the v. last one in the list)

[semi-backpacker]

I was in a job a few years ago where I had lots of dealings with employees in Mexico and Canada. In the beginning, I did receive feedback that I needed to spend time up front "getting to know" people before jumping in to business. Seems so common sense now, but at the time, I was a bit more "corporate" and probably came across that way too! It also didn't help that I was living in New York, where we always jumped right to business.

These days, I'm more relaxed and getting to know people is where the fun is at! :-)

[wakingdream]

When we had recently moved from Oregon, USA to West Cork, Ireland my wife got a lot of looks and laughs in the pub one night when she complained that "No one would give me a ride, not even the priest!"

It turns out that when standing along the road you are looking for a "lift"; "ride" has sexual connotations.

Cheers,

[semi-backpacker]

When we had recently moved from Oregon, USA to West Cork, Ireland my wife got a lot of looks and laughs in the pub one night when she complained that "No one would give me a ride, not even the priest!"

It turns out that when standing along the road you are looking for a "lift"; "ride" has sexual connotations.

Cheers,

This happens alot for us native Spanish speakers when we visit other Spanish-speaking countries. For example, the word for blond in Guatemala, means prostitute in Mexico. The word for straw in my country is a bad word in Costa Rica (I found that one out the hard way!)