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dm2010

Not all countries think AS is unusual

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As a veteran of business dealings with the Germans I can report I make use of the following AS behaviours :

 

1. Sticking rigidly to meeting agendas.

2. Sitting in the same place every time.

3. Arriving and leaving to the minute.

4. Sending emails at the same time each day.

5. No small talk - unless it's about Winston Churchill (their MD is a huge fan)

 

In the UK such behaviour would be considered eccentric or even weird. The Germans love it, because this is the way they behave normally and cannot believe that any English person could understand them so well. I am considered an honorary German even though I don't speak the language.

 

So take heart everyone. Much of the objections to AS behaviours are based on cultural prejudice and are not common currency everywhere.

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There was an article on the BBC Website about a week ago something along the lines of 'Who is the most polite? The British or the Germans?' which discussed the differing viewpoints of the 2 cultures and why we misunderstand each other...anyone else read it? :whistle:

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They might not have a word for sarcasm but they certainly use it. The Germans are not humourless as many think, on other discussion boards I've seen several Germans with a quite unique wit. After all they invented the word "schardenfreude" which is has no exact english equivalent. Essentially it means gloating and enjoying it a lot.

 

Also on my German version of the superb 1981 kids TV series "Silas" the lead character (12 years old) keeps saying "Grunspan und entendreck" whenever things go wrong which they frequently do. I invite everyone to google translate this phrase. The English subtitled version deliberately doesn't translate it because the nearest equivalent is a common swear word ! Only the Germans would put something like that in, apparently when first broadcast it got howls of laughter from the audience.

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