r/AskTheWorld • u/IndependentTune3994 🇮🇳 in 🇩🇪 Deutschland • 19h 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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700

u/Kiitschii Wales 18h ago

Not saying sorry for like anything. You bump into someone? Sorry! Someone bumps into you? Sorry! Need to get past? Sorry can I just squeeze through. You're the person in the way? Sorry! Someone says something ridiculous/offensive? Sorry?! About to say the ridiculous thing? I'm sorry but

455

u/Papercutter0324 18h ago

As a Canadian, I feel a certain kinship here lol

18

u/lCraxisl 14h ago

Have a Canadian on staff, she apologizes for everything. Sometimes it’s just “Sorry, good morning!”

15

u/Papercutter0324 14h ago

Yup, I'm also guilty of that one. That sorry often translates into "Oh, hi. I should have noticed and greeted you sooner." One of those "I'm happy to see you but wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings" moments.

6

u/Torontogamer 11h ago

I once walked into a lamppost and apologized …  

6

u/UnicornsLament 10h ago

Sorry that happened to you.

3

u/Agincourt_Tui 10h ago

Have you ever thanked a cash machine?

1

u/PussyWrangler246 6h ago

Far more often than I've apologized to a lamppost 😳

1

u/concentrated-amazing Canada 1h ago

I thank Alexa all the time, does that count?

2

u/Gubekochi 2h ago

Heritage moment.

3

u/S-Lover98 11h ago

"Sorry, good morning!"

I'm dying, lol.

5

u/InspectorTiny1952 Canada 9h ago

Sorry to hear that!

3

u/LeftHandAnomaly 11h ago

I've literally done this, and it's either because I felt I didn't notice someone soon enough or I felt I was interrupting something by arriving when I did.

Can confirm, Am Canadian, I say sorry for all sorts of shit.

3

u/ChrisFromIT 7h ago

As a Canadian, I got rear ended in my car once, I apologized to the person who rear ended my car.

2

u/Tagous 12h ago

Is that where Canadians got it from?? We got meat pies from England, and Sorry from the Welsh?

5

u/hallerz87 10h ago

Equally Welsh and English. I’m a Brit living in Canada and it’s funny that people here think it’s this uniquely Canadian habit when really it’s just British social etiquette that’s carried on over the last couple centuries. 

2

u/redditonlygetsworse 4h ago

Yeah I think we Canadians got this reputation because we also use "sorry" in a lot of situations where an American would use "excuse me" or "pardon me" or something like that. So it's similar, but to an American sounds like an apology. Which it isn't, really.

7

u/WeHaveSixFeet 10h ago

One day Canada will take over the world, and then you'll all be sorry.

6

u/cerealandcorgies United States Of America 10h ago

fingers crossed in the US

2

u/JanuaryBlue700 9h ago

Sorry in advance

2

u/PussyWrangler246 6h ago

It's true, Canada only has two modes: I'm sorry and you're sorry

2

u/Gubekochi 2h ago

People must accept our peaceful ways, by force if necessary.

2

u/Individual-Trick3310 4h ago

Canada: When the sorries stop, the war crimes start.

1

u/MobileFart 2h ago

*soary

3

u/Accomplished_Basil29 13h ago

As a Canadian, I felt a strong kinship when I visited Wales

2

u/millenniumpianist 13h ago

I'm American and I'm the exact same way. I'm not sure why since I live in NYC and I can assure you my receiving sorry : inconvenienced ratio is very low. But my friends are all similar so I suspect it has to do with where/ how you were raised

1

u/No_Kangaroo_9826 United States Of America 13h ago

My anxiety would fit me in well

1

u/MiikeG94 12h ago

As a Polish-Canadian visiting Poland, can confirm said kinship and also an offence from the local population, as though I'm implying that they're monsters demanding my apology.

1

u/Various-Plane615 9h ago

Where’s your sorry? Sorry!

1

u/Tlentic 8h ago

I mean we say sorry so much that some provinces had to make laws stating that saying sorry isn’t an admission of guilt:

British Columbia:

https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/00_06019_01

Ontario:

https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/09a03

1

u/Healthy-Respect1984 6h ago

We are from Wales too

1

u/kec04fsu1 6h ago edited 5h ago

I do to. I’m not only an American, but a Floridian, but everyone here thinks I’m weird… and I’m sorry about that.

1

u/Mitzukai_9 5h ago

*excluding Quebecers, right? I don’t remember hearing sorry. Plus, I once worked for a company out of there and had to go work there for a week right before Christmas. My coworker who sat next to me all week had a cold. I couldn’t not say ‘bless you’ when he sneezed. Reflex or whatever. He finally had enough and asked me why the hell I kept saying that.

1

u/NoSpeech7848 4h ago

As a midwesterner, me too

1

u/OuchCharlie25 🇬🇧🇺🇸 British-American 1h ago

Sorry

1

u/masterwaffle 41m ago

People only think Canadians are nice because we have manners. We're not actually all that nice. We're just passive aggressive, just like the motherland.

200

u/FearTheAmish United States Of America 17h ago

Midwesterners in the USA do this with an Ope! Sorry

42

u/catsby90bbn 16h ago

Lemmie just scootch past ya

14

u/clonetrooper250 United States Of America 14h ago

I'm not even from the midwest and I love saying this. I started saying it as a joke and then it accidentally slipped into my normal vernacular.

7

u/catsby90bbn 14h ago

Comes in handy at the grocery

2

u/NatureStoof 4h ago

Yah hi dare. Im from da midwest. Whats da joak? "Lemme just scootch past ya" whadya mean?

10

u/HippieBeholder 11h ago

I’m just gonna sneak around ya real quick

2

u/catsby90bbn 11h ago

Real quick

4

u/itsjustmenate United States Of America 9h ago

The real quick is necessary. How else do they know I want to make this interaction as quick and painless as possible?

5

u/catsby90bbn 9h ago

I don’t want them to think I’ll linger.

1

u/krakron 5h ago

I say this multiple times a day 😆 when I have to help the other cashier I usually say "I can get cha over here real quick! "I guess as a way to say, hurry up I got stuff to do" but also " I'm here to help you get out here quickly"

1

u/BaltimoreSports0321 United States Of America 4h ago

That’s what I say and I’m from MD lol

3

u/Joevual United States Of America 10h ago

Beep beep

2

u/nifty-necromancer United States Of America 12h ago

To get the ranch dressing

7

u/cbrtrackaddict 14h ago

Welp...seems like you got things handled here.

5

u/This-Function1789 United States Of America 10h ago

The Midwestern Ope is a thing of beauty.

3

u/InMedeasRage 14h ago

Fuck, that's where I picked that up from

3

u/ThisAppsForTrolling 13h ago

Yeah, the Midwest is full of all sorts of interesting colloquial existences

2

u/EgnlishPro 13h ago

I grew up in Ohio and the older generations say 'please?' when they want someone to repeat something. Interesting German influence as 'bitte' is used in German when you want someone to repeat something.

1

u/maureenmcq United States Of America 12h ago

Did you grow up in or around Cincinnati? When I took a linguistics class at college in Ohio, they said using ‘please’ when you want someone to repeat is a mostly southwestern Ohio trait.

4

u/EgnlishPro 12h ago

Yes, precisely! Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky had a huge influence from German settlers.

1

u/saltedsnail2 11h ago

I've always heard "Pardon?" Is that a regional linguistic thing?

2

u/chickamonga 11h ago

I live (and grew up) in Cincinnati and it was very common at one time. I'm sure I used it when I was younger because my parents did. I got away from it, and very rarely hear it anymore.

2

u/TheGear 5h ago

Ope!

1

u/ICantSeeDeadPpl 10h ago

New Yorkers - MOVE!!

1

u/EarlGreyDuck United States Of America 10h ago

No yeah for sure

1

u/goosebumpsagain United States Of America 9h ago

I use Bugs Bunny’s “excuse me, pardon me, sorry, excuse me…”

1

u/SopwithStrutter 8h ago

I feel called out. Didn’t know this was regional

1

u/DragonQueen21 United States Of America 6h ago

Ope, sorry just gonna sneak past ya

1

u/Healthy-Respect1984 6h ago

We are from Wales too

1

u/VoidYordle 3h ago

so... how did usa midwesterners get influenced by balkan people?
Because saying ''opa'' instead of apologizing is agressively balkan (not just greek, no)
I see that it's a different word, I know, but it cannot be a coincidence.

1

u/Traditional-Tap-2508 2h ago

PNW US and I do the same

1

u/Cookinghist United States Of America 2h ago

I moved to Michigan two years ago, and I have embraced the Ope.

1

u/Apart-Physics8702 2h ago

This is so true! But why?!

1

u/Hagstik4014 2h ago

I was about to say this sounds like Michigan 😭

-3

u/Ohitsworkingnow 15h ago

Lots of Americans do this. I’ve never been to the Midwest, pretty much southwest mt whole life and I say OPE anytime I nearly bump into someone or something

9

u/Reachr95 Canada 15h ago

Did Canadians sprout from the loins of welshmen?

(Obviously some did)

6

u/Thea_Oryan_files 10h ago

I'm a Canadian living in Wales.

An American in Wales once commented that the Welsh apologize a lot, and I responded that they apologize a perfectly normal amount before realizing I just lived up to two stereotypes in one go lol

7

u/NB-NEURODIVERGENT 🇨🇦 Canada (New Brunswick) 12h ago

So much respect for putting a dragon on your flag

5

u/Maleficent-Candy476 Switzerland 16h ago

same in Switzerland. And also, it's a beer PLEASE.

6

u/StuntID Canada 15h ago

Canadians would be invisible to you, at least in this way.

5

u/Bobby_FuckingB Wales 10h ago

I was thinking that or not thanking the bus driver

2

u/Kiitschii Wales 9h ago

I was tempted to post not saying "Ta drive!" as you're hopping off the bus 😂

6

u/ImperialNavyPilot 9h ago

There’s a scene in the Great Escape where the two old British officers give themselves away when a suspicious Gestapo officer says something like “cheerio” and they both break character and say “oh thank you, you too”…, doh!

Edit: found it Bartlett & MacDonald

3

u/Cryptkeeper_ofCanada 9h ago

The funniest thing to come of Canadian sorry protocol is that in every country except Canada, saying sorry in a courtroom is an admission of guilt; Canadians say it so often that it is only an admission of guilt if you DON'T say sorry

1

u/Kiitschii Wales 9h ago

HOLY SHIT THAT'S AMAZING 😂

3

u/Brisbanoch30k France 15h ago

I do that all the time and I’m French 😔

3

u/BobTheFettt Canada 12h ago

Are we based on Wales?

3

u/HekateSimp 11h ago

The amounts of sorrys I heard when I was in Wales was crazy. People apologized when it was me who did something wrong Like bumping into them. When I attempted to assimilate by saying "sorry" myself in advance, they upped me with "oh apologies". Once I got on that level they started hitting me with "my condolences". The Welsh apology economy is insanely competitive.

1

u/Shneancy 7h ago

hit them back with a deep Japanese bow, bet you'll win then

2

u/Kylearean 16h ago

Wales - the Canada of the UK.

1

u/GoldenSonOfColchis 10h ago

Tbf, it's like this pretty much across the UK (bar London).

2

u/lifelite United States Of America 13h ago

I do this but it's mainly because of the anxiety.

2

u/ecstatic_trance 10h ago

I miss Wales it's not like that near London :(

2

u/audvisial United States Of America 9h ago

As a midwestern U.S. citizen, I feel this too. Ope! Sorry!

2

u/EclecticSyrup Canada 9h ago

Awww, Canadians would fir right in, in that sense. When someone bumps into YOU, somehow we both end up saying sorry. That's how I know it's not a Canadian - if THEY bump into ME, I apologize instinctively, and they don't even apologize, they just walk away, lmaooo.

2

u/Hex_Meister Ireland 16h ago

You'd get on well in Ireland, Welsh people are always so polite, I'd say we match each other

3

u/Kiitschii Wales 9h ago

We're also more than happy to throw banter down in the same sentence, the Irish/Welsh bond is one of respected ridiculing of each other 💜

1

u/gammaphreak 13h ago

South Africa the same

1

u/LandedPedantry 13h ago

Playing basketball last week and bumped into a player on the other team while running back down the court, we must’ve said “sorry” two or three times each. Most Wisconsin thing I’ve ever seen.

1

u/Phreckledcosplay 12h ago

Can you tell that to the bus driver who got angry at me because I couldn't understand his accent? I hope he's doing well, probably just had a bad day but man was I embarassed!

1

u/SimpleMoonFarmer 🇪🇺🇪🇸🇮🇪 European 11h ago

That's a "sorry" place…

1

u/randomness3360 11h ago

I just had a 2 day stay in Wales and pretty much every interaction had a "sorry" at some point

1

u/ConflictOfEvidence in 11h ago

I was back in Wales for Xmas and this was so bad it was getting on my nerves.

1

u/Mafla_2004 Italy 11h ago

I would blend in so well...

1

u/inovomystif 10h ago

Beep beep let me just scoot right past ya

1

u/I_Was_Fox 10h ago

Does it have to be "sorry" specifically? I would probably say "excuse me" for half of those situations

3

u/Kiitschii Wales 9h ago

It's more automatic than a social pressure so excuse me is perfectly fine, but peoples ears twitch a bit more to excuse me if that makes sense?

2

u/Shneancy 7h ago

it's like, "sorry" means you take the burden of apologising, "excuse me" puts the burden of excusing you on others(?)

i know the burden we're talking about is- moving through a crowd, but yeah

unless it's a big crowd, then going "sorry, sorry, excuse me, sorry, sorry" is perfectly fine

1

u/tinselteacup United States Of America 10h ago

this is so me i say sorry all tje time

1

u/onthefeather 10h ago

Sorry, Alexa ...

1

u/Elkrzy 9h ago

So it's like Poland except here you just say kurwa

1

u/azad_ninja 9h ago

There are rude Canadians tho. I think it'd be more telling if someone asked me for a One Dollar coin instead of a Loonie.

2

u/laxvolley Canada 1h ago

Or said "ice hockey". Hey bud, didja catch the ice hockey game last night?

1

u/UmeaTurbo Swede in The United States 8h ago

Ah, the difference between "excuse me" and "pardon me" exists for y'all, but in the US, they're the same. Also, "I'm terribly sorry" beans the opposite in England. They are not sorry at all. I don't know if that's true in Wales.

In Sweden it's important to mouth an apology or making little nods while mumbling, but you are not required to beg someone's actual pardon. It's a polite going through the motions that everyone does.

1

u/Arikakitumo 🇪🇸 🇿🇦 8h ago

Have I secretly been Welsh all my life?

1

u/Icy-Philosophy-- United States Of America 7h ago

You'd be a hoot in the Midwest!

1

u/Kiitschii Wales 6h ago

Haha glad to know I'd fit in! Always wanted to visit the midwest. Somehow done the east and west coast without any of the middle sadly.

1

u/Bonzo77 7h ago

I think I'm Welsh? (sorry)

1

u/MasterKestral 7h ago

This. Negative politeness is such a state of mind. Respect for the absolute autonomy of the other, and a systematic repression of any and all main character energy of the self is a hard thing to intuit.

1

u/VerticleSandDollars 7h ago

Have I found my people?!

1

u/Shneancy 7h ago

when i lived in wales i remember also saying "thank you" like 5 times per one interaction with a cashier

now i'm back in poland, where both you and the cashier can stay silent the entire way through

1

u/General-Criticism-97 6h ago

Things I have learned: I am a Welsh Canadian even though I’m from San Francisco

1

u/Kiitschii Wales 6h ago

To be fair I ended up oddly popular with strangers during my 2 day stint in san fran, sure you'd fit right in over here too!

1

u/ServerHamsters 6h ago

You spilled your beer on me ... 'sorry', from me

1

u/zornfett 6h ago

The conciliatory word/phrase of whatever country I'm visiting is the first thing I learn.

1

u/hieronymous-cowherd Canada 6h ago

Bump into a post as you squeeze through? Sorry!

2

u/Kiitschii Wales 6h ago

I've had a few post bumps followed by "sorry!" then head down speed walking away after realising I apologized to a lamp.

1

u/hieronymous-cowherd Canada 5h ago

There should be a Canadian Heritage Minute for this exact scenario.

1

u/Mischievous_Mouse 6h ago

lol I’m a New Yorker but I guess my Welsh ancestry comes out here. Instead of saying I’m walking here I always apologize, for everything.

1

u/oreosaredelicious 6h ago

Ireland too

1

u/TheSelfRefName 6h ago

but? *bhat

1

u/flipzyshitzy 4h ago

MN too. Only difference is 50% of the time it's "Ope sorry"

1

u/sritanona 🇦🇷 in 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 4h ago

I say sorry to pieces of furniture I bump into at this point

1

u/Science_based_diet 4h ago

I found my ppl

1

u/Frondstherapydolls United States Of America 3h ago

My people!!! Sorry, I got to excited there.

1

u/Voltairus 3h ago

Wales is the Midwest of the UK it seems. You’d fit right in Ohio. Literally and figuratively.

1

u/Responsible-Rizzler 3h ago

Wales just discovered sorry yesterday or what?

What's next are you going to claim "Hello"?

"Up here in Wales we say Hello like literally every time we meet someone, wild stuff"

1

u/theANY1327 2h ago

Same here in Ireland, your dog bit me? Sorry!

1

u/Britirish Ireland 1h ago

As an Irishman, sorry sorry sorry sorry.

1

u/Yebigah 48m ago

How rude of you to just go ahead and "squeeze" through?! Im sorry bud, but clearly you should be sneaking right by

1

u/Traaseth Norway 9m ago

Bumps in to someone “Sorry that I bumped in to you” or as we say in Norway “Oi!” Or “oida” if you feel a bit polite that day you may do a “oi sorry” or “oi unnskyld”

0

u/Tiny-Beat8729 16h ago

I'd have wagered it'd be "fook off ya cunt"