Too Rude!

From Yahoo:
"The World's Rudest Nations for Travelers"

Congratulations, my fellow Americans! We’re not the rudest nation on the planet. We’re not even in the top five. USA! USA! The travel search site Skyscanner.com surveyed its users about where the locals never smile and people are particularly unfriendly, and the nation with the most votes for rudest locals was… France (félicitations, mes amis!), followed by Russia. The survey received over 1,200 responses, 65 percent from the UK and Ireland, plus elsewhere in Europe, North America and Australia.

The World's Rudest Nations for Travelers

1. France

2. Russia

3. United Kingdom

4. Germany

5. Other

Rounding out the top five rudest countries were the U.K., Germany and “Other” (those Others are the worst, don’t you think?). The U.S. placed 7th, behind China. Some of the perceived rudeness may be attributable to cultural differences rather than anything intentional. For example, says Tatiana Danilova, Skyscanner’s Russian Market Manager, “the Russian language is not as polite as English, so when Russians translate directly from Russian to English, it can sound rude to an English speaker even if they don’t mean it to.” The British, for their part, voted themselves “world’s worst tourists” in a previous Skyscanner survey.The countries rated as having the least rude locals were Brazil, the Caribbean and the Philippines.

^ I agree with this list. I was a little surprised that Americans didn't get in the top 5 of most rude. The French tend to be pretty arrogant (I experienced it inside and outside of Paris and even when I was speaking French.) As for the Russians, I think it's true. The article tries to say it's only because of the language barrier, but having dealt with countless Russians inside and outside Russia I don't think that is the main reason. I once heard a quote from a Russian that a Russian was like an onion: hard exterior to strangers and in public and soft interior to family and friends. I think that sums them up the best. ^

http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/the-world-s-rudest-nations-for-travelers.html