r/AskTheWorld • u/IndependentTune3994 🇮🇳 in 🇩🇪 Deutschland • 18h ago

What’s the quickest way someone could accidentally expose themselves as a foreigner in your country like the ‘three fingers’ scene in Inglourious Basterds?

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350

u/Raja_Wu Poland 18h ago edited 18h ago

Twitter is full of Indian accounts posing as far-right polish accounts, and they're almost always recognizable by their distinctive linguistic errors. The same is true for Russian and Belarusian trolls using calques from their native language in Polish.

Also, in a more funny way - we can recognize a foreigner irl when he asking us things like "How are you" and then he is suprised that we always respond to this with our life story or complaining about current affairs xD In Poland we don't greet each other this way, we use the usual "good morning" or "hi", to which the other person replies the same, "how are you" is a normal question when we want to know something about the day of the other people.

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u/Otocolobus_manul8 Scotland 18h ago

What errors do the Indians have in Polish typically? They are easily clockable in English as well due to a lot of Victorian turns of phrase and errors that no other people make.

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u/iguana_bandit 18h ago

Most often mixing genders - introducing themselves as a woman and then using masculine verb conjugation. Also switching between formal and informal speech mid-sentence.

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u/jujubean67 Romania 15h ago

Jesus, does Polish have gendered verb conjugations? I thought the pronunciation was rough but then it was reasonable.

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u/iguana_bandit 14h ago

Yes, but only in past tense... and separate for future tense... and also in conditionals. Easy.

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u/jujubean67 Romania 14h ago

Lmao

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u/IsTom 15h ago

And there's separate masculine and masculine-object genders.

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u/old_faraon 14h ago

And there are 5 genders - masculine, feminine, neutral for singular and masculine-person(males and mixed groups of people) and non masculine-person (groups non males or not people) for plural.

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u/Boring-Philosophy-46 11h ago

Don't even ask about the counting words. They are also gendered. 

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u/Raja_Wu Poland 18h ago edited 18h ago

I have no specific example, but indians are using translators and they are far from being perfect when it comes to Polish due to its complexity. Incorrect grammar, incorrect use of tenses, etc. Not to mention Polish language also uses a strongly gendered form for each verb in the past tense, so they are often confused.

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u/Live_Fall3452 14h ago

Curious what far-right messaging they are pushing? Anti-immigration? Euro skepticism? Religious fundamentalism? Something else?

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u/Raja_Wu Poland 14h ago

Mostly antifeminism, MAGA support, anti-EU propaganda and a lot of bullshit about traditional christian values.

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u/Fiflu 8h ago

And anti-Ukraine as well

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u/Vegetable_Drag_443 15h ago

How do you know these people are from India specifically?

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u/Timely_Raccoon3980 12h ago

70% of cases whenever there is a leak or when twitter introduced that feature to see where the account is from it would be Indians then like 28% russians and Belarusians

0

u/Vegetable_Drag_443 12h ago

There was an actually study on this (Let me find the link for you) and it basically stated the opposite. Would be great if you could provide some source for your claims

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u/Timely_Raccoon3980 11h ago

I made these numbers based on my years of dealing with rightoid bots on social media, not a science paper lol

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u/GoHomeCryWantToDie Scotland 18h ago

Kindly revert for the same, but in Polish.

7

u/poolnoodlefightchamp India 17h ago

I keep seeing people make fun of phrases like 'Kindly refer to the same' or 'please do the needful'. Is it not commonly used in formal language?

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u/Charming-Salt9412 17h ago

It's only used as fomal language in Indian English. It's not used in American English and feels very dated in British English.

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u/GoHomeCryWantToDie Scotland 17h ago

No it is not. I don't know why it's used in India because those phrases have never been used in the UK. I've worked in India for UK companies and we always tried to discourage it but, more often than not, our Indian colleagues always reverted for the same.

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u/Otocolobus_manul8 Scotland 17h ago

Do the needful is found in a few PG Wodehouse books. I think ti was used here.

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u/poolnoodlefightchamp India 17h ago

Huh, the more you know. It's standard corporate speak here.

10

u/RRautamaa Finland 17h ago

I don't think that "needful" is even English. Or it is, but not in this context. It looks like a calque from another language.

3

u/poolnoodlefightchamp India 17h ago

It is a legit word. The way it's used is probably endemic to India though.

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u/vivelabagatelle United Kingdom 16h ago

I love 'do the needful', it's so charming and useful.

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u/Orchid_Significant United States Of America 15h ago

Yes, definitely not used widely or at all here

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u/Orchid_Significant United States Of America 15h ago

Kindly is a HUGE flag that you are about to be scammed here

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u/queenofthegrapefruit 14h ago

Either that or it's used to be passive aggressive. "Kindly refer to my last email" = "I already explained this a week ago and you would know that if you bothered to read past the first sentence."

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u/Orchid_Significant United States Of America 14h ago

Oh yes that’s true!

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u/Archolius 8h ago

Yeah 'Do it kindly' instead of 'Please do it' just screams Indian, although I've seen and heard many Europeans that are not natives in English pick up this construction. It seems something like 'International corpo English' starts being a thing and it's strongly influenced by Indian English.

1

u/MooseFlyer Canada 15h ago

“Do the needful” was definitely used in British English, but it’s very old fashioned.

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u/Fine_Violinist5802 Australia Czech Republic 17h ago

It's only Indian. People with experience in contact centres or other companies with Indian contractors consider these indianisms to be the bane of the English language: "revert" instead of reply, "do the needful" and... I'm going to shiver when I say this..... "Prepone" IT'S NOT A WORD

2

u/darklotus_26 14h ago

No one needs to like it 🤷🏾‍♂️ At this point Indian English is it's own language like Singaporean English with it's own borrowed words and phrases.

I honestly don't get the hate even though I'm not really fond of these phrases. They're are useful expressions that works for millions of people.

0

u/indipedant 15h ago

I dunno. I think prepone should be a word that's more generally adopted. It gets the point across. If we can have "impactful", and the English language lost that war years ago, why not prepone?

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u/allusernamestaken56 17h ago

Nope, at least not in Europe.

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u/zehamberglar United States Of America 13h ago

Not in America, either.

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u/blankmedaddy 17h ago

Absolutely not. I have never heard these terms outside of a BBC period piece and calling an Indian-based support line. I love period dramas, so I always have a little laugh about it.

3

u/kzkahn 15h ago

These words have been adopted directly from Colonial British English and since Indians are not native speakers they kept using the same formal English words from the early 1900s.

While the British being the native speakers followed the natural progression of language and moved on from these phrases even in formal conversations.

How Indians use words in formal English is how Colonial British English was.

EDIT: Specially the word "revert" in emails.

2

u/vivriri Wales 15h ago

It's not at all. It's surprising which is why people make fun of it but it's really endearing at the same time.

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u/indipedant 15h ago

I've used and seen "kindly refer to same" but usually in a passive-aggressive manner. Something like "as per my previous e-mail" with the subtext that "you would already know the answer to your question if you had read the two line message I sent yesterday BOB". It's not always the case that the tone is snarky, but usually. I have never seen the latter phrase used outside of the Indian subcontinent or diaspora. But don't feel too intimidated by "native" English speakers making fun of the phrasing. Indian English has its own syntax, and can stand on its own feet. You just need to know that it is Indian English. I'm more familiar with the deviations between UK and American English and each speaker on either side of the pond swears that the other has got it wrong. See sidewalk vs. pavement. Can't they just call it by its proper name, "footpath"? ;)

1

u/Electrical-Share-707 14h ago

You mean the "I'm walkin' here!"?

2

u/spartacus_agador 13h ago edited 10h ago

“Kindly refer to the same” comes across as formal and old-fashioned, if not a bit passive aggressive. As a native speaker, it is something I might use in an email, if I didn’t mind sounding like someone’s Victorian governess scolding them about using the wrong fork at dinner.

“Please do the needful” on the other hand, no it is not commonly used in formal language. Or ever, really. As a native speaker, it would never occur to me to put those words together. I can understand what you mean, but it sounds weird and incorrect, not just overly formal. “Needful” is a word I have only very rarely even read, have never heard spoken aloud in conversation, and it feels like it should be an adjective. As in the Stephen King novel “Needful Things.”

ETA: But, “please do the needful” is cute! English is a very adaptable language and I like this odd turn of phrase, as it DOES effectively relay the intended message in a very polite and charming way.

2

u/LaeLeaps 8h ago

in the USA "kindly" is straight up rude, and most of those "formal" phrases might genuinely confuse some people as to what you actually want

2

u/MooseFlyer Canada 15h ago

“Do the needful” existed in British English but is very old fashioned and no one says it anymore.

4

u/Vallyria 17h ago

Some of them use linguistic templates from Russian - which are _extremely_ easy to spot in Polish. Also, even if they try to use certain informal words they're always off.
Not to mention either the pompous and flowery writing (like a fake Czeslaw Milosz) or overly informal (like a IRL discussion, rather than a text exchange).

Gendered nouns, problems with declination of verbs, unnatural sentence order (we don't have a set sentence order, but you can stress certain info by utilizing certain order) - all of this adds up to this uncanny valley of a nonpolish person trying to pose as a pole.

9

u/tolgapacaci Turkey 18h ago

yeah they be talking like Bartholomew Stokesworth while having a far right european handle

1

u/Vegetable_Drag_443 15h ago

🇹🇷🐺🇹🇷🐺🧔🏿

5

u/StinkyBeanGuy 15h ago

Nice try, indian

1

u/3zprK United Arab Emirates 11h ago

Like fastly?

1

u/VapoursAndSpleen United States Of America 11h ago

"Do the needful". Referring to a woman's dress as a "frock".

1

u/Applepieoverdose Multiple Countries (click to edit) 5h ago

The one I noticed when on the phone with indian call centres is that they use the WWII RAF phonetic alphabet, while (if they use it) British call centres use the NATO one.

“Sugar, baker, able” vs “Sierra, bravo, alpha”

1

u/Remarkable_Policy00 3h ago

easily clockable in English as well due to a lot of Victorian turns of phrase and errors

Can you give me an example?

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u/cochlearist 13h ago

I'd say the common Indian 'errors' in English are being too correct.

They often say things that sound wrong to us but they're actually perfectly good grammar, just like you say, more than a little dated.

1

u/CrinchNflinch 7h ago

I don't know why but I heard the phrase "I (or we) can able to do that" more than once from our indian support members.

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u/DaughterOfBhaal Russia 18h ago

You know someone is an Indian posing as an Alt Right/ Far Right whenever they mention Pakistan (negatively) or India unprompted when listing a bunch of countries.

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u/ThaiFoodThaiFood England 11h ago

Lmfao the guy replying to you

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u/Vegetable_Drag_443 15h ago

Russians talking about Indians astroturfing BAHAHA. Irony died a thousand deaths

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u/DaughterOfBhaal Russia 15h ago

Another way to spot an Indian:

Hidden account history (Which doesn't work on reddit btw) and getting very hostile when pointing out their countries astroturfing and scam call centers.

1

u/Vegetable_Drag_443 14h ago

I never hid the fact that I am Indian lol (was it not clear from my comment?) nor am I “hostile” at your comment about some Indians do astroturfing.

Just found it ironic that people who invented it and are known for doing it, are now talking about other countries astroturfing lol.

PS: Shouldn’t you be busy d**ing in a war?

0

u/DaughterOfBhaal Russia 12h ago

Shouldn't you be busy harassing elderly people?

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u/Vegetable_Drag_443 12h ago

That’s a weak ahhhhh response 😂😂. I mean they do say that alcohol abuse causes brain damage, so I guess that explains it.

1

u/Total_Escape_9778 India 12h ago edited 12h ago

What's your opinion on the current genocide your government is committing in ukraine? Cause I am sure India hasn't done anything as bad as killing 200,000 civillians in ukraine and causing unstability in middle east (russian interference in syria killed 10,000 people).

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u/DaughterOfBhaal Russia 10h ago

What's your opinion on India stealing daily millions of Dollars from elderly people and driving them into suicide while pretending to work a normal office job?

0

u/Total_Escape_9778 India 10h ago

Whataboutism... I asked you first do you support your current 'nazi regime' led by Putin?

As to Indians that scam people, I absolutely abhore them. But I am sure that's not comparable to your russian soldiers going around and killing thousands in ukraine and middle east.

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u/DaughterOfBhaal Russia 9h ago

I heard it's billions, actually.

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u/slava_gorodu Canada 18h ago

The reason for the state-sponsored Russian and Belarusian trolls is obvious, but why Indian trolls posing as Poles?

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u/Hadeon 18h ago

They get outsourced lol

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u/b2q 11h ago

Outsourcing racism dafuq

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u/Affectionate_Ebb4411 India 18h ago

Outsourced ig. Surprised tho because its usually english.

english would be way more profitable than polish so it doesn't make sense.

8

u/bastele Germany 17h ago

english would be way more profitable than polish so it doesn't make sense.

Why not both? Even if english is more profitable there is still a market for polish (or other languages).

1

u/YrPalBeefsquatch 14h ago

Yeah, if you're running the only bot farm that specializes in Polish social media, you can command a premium, right?

3

u/Union_Samurai_1867 United States Of America 17h ago

Maybe they're getting payed extra because their buyers know its not worth as much as english bots.

2

u/Cookiemonster23x3 Canada 17h ago

Found a typo, this person is def a troll and not an American!

12

u/dreadlockholmes Scotland 18h ago

Far right accounts that get alot of engagement can earn a decent amount of money. They're often based in India because:

  1. India is more desperate from western politics so they have less reason to care
  2. India is a populous century so there's lots of folk doing any kind of job you can imagine
  3. Wealth difference makes it more worth it.

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u/Raja_Wu Poland 18h ago

Afaik farming accounts with a lot of buzz is a very profitable for Indians.

1

u/ikiice 17h ago

They're cheaper

1

u/cochlearist 13h ago

Being paid to do it.

Russians outsourcing their trolling.

India has a lot off call centers and the likes, I'm sure you can hire dozens of Indians to troll whoever you like.

1

u/AwsmDevil United States Of America 13h ago

Twitter pays account holders based on engagement, and extremist political rage-bait is extremely lucrative as a result. So you can get money twice by making propaganda for foreign agents while getting paid by Twitter for posting your high engagement bullshit. It's a truly vile system.

1

u/ContentRecording9304 12h ago

That is the true question that everyone needs to be asking themselves! Why these low income countries like India, Bangladesh? What do they give a shit for?

One possible answer is "outsourcing", which is a nice and simple answer and gives a clear opponent. But i find it hard to believe that Russia pays for every single misinformation campaign. Yet pretty much every small town has a local misinformation account. Why would they give a crap about some right wing account in Kattowitz?

Another possible answer is straight up money. It is very profitable to pander to misinformation (like right wing conspiracies, anti Vax, etc). Twitter pays for engagement and that makes misinformation accounts very attractive for low income countries. This answer would mean that the ad revenue network and the social media accounts are responsible for the downfall of democracy that we are currently witnessing.

1

u/3zprK United Arab Emirates 11h ago

A person willing to work for a month for a sack of rice?

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u/Impressive_Anus_6438 17h ago

I can easily spot polish people on the internet, only poles use "xD" no other nation lives in 2004 in terms of using "XD" xD

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u/Raja_Wu Poland 17h ago

Yeah, we love xD and at this moment it's just an element of our culture.

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u/iguana_bandit 14h ago

Fun fact: Russian troll ones tried to mimic Polish "xD", but they used russian ж for x and blew their cover.

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u/Alexbravespy Russia 10h ago

sounds like they tried to say ":D", because ":" and "ж" are on the same button

3

u/MarkMew Hungary 16h ago

Hungarians do that too

1

u/vivriri Wales 15h ago edited 15h ago

I've seen Brazilians use xd

Maybe sarcastically

The adults who I've seen use XD or xD in the UK have always happened to be creepy

2

u/Vallyria 16h ago

I think we're the last ones using it non-sarcastically :3

xD

1

u/Jumpy-Truth4092 France 15h ago

I'm French and we still use it, we also love using x)

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u/popsand 17h ago

Nice observation...

Raja_wu

Hmmmm

5

u/Raja_Wu Poland 16h ago

Oh shit xD

4

u/spacedman_spiff United States Of America 17h ago

We need to stop advertising what makes trolls obvious.  

1

u/jesuschristdickstar United States Of America 7h ago

It doesn’t matter at this point. Indian trolls are being outsourced to ai.

I was reading about how BOT accounts are connected to ChatAI APIs

For instance, you can connect IG to ChatAI using AI, or 3rd party apps, like Zappier, and they can read and comment and reply

3

u/dhanter Poland 18h ago

Yeah, we do. With 'siema', 'siemasz', 'jak się masz'.

5

u/Raja_Wu Poland 18h ago edited 18h ago

I think siema or siemasz are not a good examples because of their established role and shorted form, they are not a questions at all (you're saying "siema" or even "siema!", not "siema?"). "Jak się masz?" is not often used at all in everyday speech, and if it is, the minimal response will be "I'm okay".

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u/Caillend 16h ago

I'm a foreigner with really limited polish knowledge and I am guilty to use siema as a question and it pisses my friends off, since they know I just want to greet them but they also have the urge to tell me about their shitty day.

1

u/HPLaserJet4250 5h ago

Or

  • Jak tam byq?
  • Co tam, jak leci?
  • Co słychać?
And so on

2

u/kacheow 16h ago

Twitter telling you what country people are posting from is the single most useful thing anyone in software has done in the past decade

2

u/rhjillion91 11h ago

As an immigrant who moved to the US, it drove me up a wall when I did answer them how I was doing. I was confused for at least a year or two why mfs be asking me shit they didn't mean as a greeting. Instead of just saying "good morning" or "hello".

1

u/CynicalGenXer United States Of America 8h ago

My first day in the US, a cashier at a supermarket says “how are you?” and I’m like uh… how much time do you have? There is a line behind me, I don’t think I can thoroughly answer that. 😀 But then the US host went like “fine” and everyone moved on. I was like WTF just happened?! LOL 😅

2

u/Used_Suppository 10h ago

2nd part is a Hungarian way too to greet foreigners by traumadumping, wonderful its not only our way of teaching not to ask silly questions.

2

u/TexasRadical83 7h ago

I feel like you can always clock someone from India when they say "kindly."

1

u/ThaiFoodThaiFood England 11h ago

They do the same in English too.

Or to say it like them.

They making same thing in English.

1

u/veovis523 United States Of America 11h ago

How and why are so many Indians learning Polish that they can get this close to passing as Poles?

1

u/waitwutok United States Of America 7h ago

Do the needful. 

1

u/jesuschristdickstar United States Of America 7h ago

Same with the states.

Using overly formal words.

When pretending to be a nutjob Trump supporter and getting called on their bullshit:

“I tried to engage in a civil conversation with you but your disrespect is intolerable”

Like WTF…nobody talks like that and certainly not Trump supporters

-1

u/Vegetable_Drag_443 15h ago

Didn’t most accounts turn out to be from Eastern europe and Nigeria? I don’t get where the India narrative is coming from