The French are rudest, most boring people on earth: British poll

[Sportsdude]

French are rudest, most boring people on earth: British poll  [DIV id=ynmain] [DIV id=storybody] [DIV class=spacer]

The French have been voted the world's most unfriendly nation by a landslide in a new British poll published. They were also voted the most boring and most ungenerous.

 A decisive 46 percent of the 6,000 people surveyed by travellers' website Where Are You Now (WAYN) said the French were the most unfriendly nation people on the planet, British newspapers reported.

 The Germans have no to reason to celebrate the damning verdict. They came second on all three counts.

 WAYN's French founder, Jerome Touze, told the papers he had been stunned by the thumping condemnation of his compatriots and sought to blame it on Gallic love-struck sulking.

 "I had no idea that the French would emerge as such an unfriendly country," he said.

 "I think our romantic 'moodiness' is misunderstood and I will be sure to pass on the message to my family and friends back in France to be a bit more cheerful to tourists in the future."

 Italy was voted the world's most cultured nation with the best cuisine, while the United States was named the most unstylish with the worst food.

 The British did not feature in the top 10 of any of the categories.

 "The British fit in nowhere -- good or bad. It appears that we are so completely average that the voters did not include us in any category," the tabloid Daily Express commented.

 "And to our shame, four percent of respondents -- all British of course -- said they would only talk to other Britons when they are abroad."

 This unwillingness to talk to the locals appears to go hand in hand with respondents' perceptions of foreigners.

 While most said Spain was the foreign country where they would most like to live, they said the Spaniards were nearly as unfriendly and ungenerous as the French.

 To add insult to injury, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph put the boot in on Saturday by saying in an editorial that the French stank.

 "The French may like to think that Chanel No 5 is their scent but we all know that garlic and stale Gitanes are much more representative."

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[Lise]

Bhahahaha. But of course. We went to France and for the most part, we were treated cordially but there was no warmth.

  The French should go to DV. They'll fit right at home.

[Sportsdude]

Any culture that doesn't speak your language will be rude to you if you do not make at least an attempt to speak its native tongue. Then they will realise that you are not from there and will try to talk to you in english.

  You've been to France, Lise? Lucky.

[Dissident]

 Sportsdude wrote:
Any culture that doesn't speak your language will be rude to you if you do not make at least an attempt to speak its native tongue. Then they will realise that you are not from there and will try to talk to you in english.
 
You've been to France, Lise? Lucky.


Consider the source.  It was a BRITISH poll, after all.  One of the things I have always been thankful for travelling abroad--particularly in places like France where I can get along in the rare instance the other person doesn't speak English--is how much better the yobbo Brits make me look when I'm around them.  If they wanted everything to be like at home, and only to interact with other Brits, why didn't they just go to Blackpool or Brighton?  Why go places where they have no respect for the culture and they demand that everything be familiar and comfortable to them?  What's the point of travelling?  This is not to say that ugly tourist behaviour is confined to the British (Americans and Canadians can be similarly mortifying), but the proximity to the Continent only exacerbates this negative mutual perception when they travel.

I've had numerous friends from francophone countries over the years, and they've been perfectly lovely.  I can say the same thing about many of the Germans, Italians, Spanish, etc that I've had the pleasure to know.  You're not going to meet the average citizen going from one tourist trap to another on bus tours.  You also don't have to leave North America to find rude customer service people, especially in tourist areas where they're subject to all sorts of miserable behaviour day in and day out.

Truly well-mannered people have the grace and generosity of spirit to refrain from being so judgemental when encountering personal and cultural differences--this applies to the tourist and the "native" equally.

 

[Trollio]

There's a fine old joke that goes something like this:
 
 What do you call a person who speaks five languages?
 A linguist.
 
 What do you call a person who speaks two languages?
 Bilingual.
 
 What do you call a person who speaks one language?
 English.
 
 That works for most Anglo societies (American, Australian, NZ, and parts of Canada)
 
 And the flip side of that is, "Of course I'm multilingual! I speak American, British, Canadian and Australian!"
 
 
   

[Trollio]

Italy was voted the world's most cultured nation...
 
 
 Uh... no. Just no. Anyone who's been there knows what I'm talking about. When Rome had an empire and my ancestors were wearing fresh animal skins in Albion, maybe. But Italy is nowhere near the most cultured nation in Europe.
   

[dver]

 DV is growing everyday and has many posters from everywhere whoose rudeness is seldom boring.

[Gopher]

Never boring, just mostly offensive!

[Trollio]

dver wrote:
DV is growing everyday and has many posters from everywhere whoose rudeness is seldom boring.
 
 And if this were DV, I would deal with you in a very different manner than I am right now. Trust me. You wouldn't be happy.