Remember that scene in Inglourious Basterds when Michael Fassbender holds up three fingers, and Diane Kruger is like, “We’re cooked” because that’s not how Germans hold up three fingers?
Well, redditor IndependentTune3994 referenced that scene and asked, “What’s the quickest way someone could accidentally expose themselves as a foreigner in your country?” People from all over the world jumped into the comments, so here are some of the best, funniest, and most interesting answers:
1.
The Netherlands: “Wearing a t-shirt or cap with a cannabis leaf.”
—Other_Sentence4495
2.
Norway: “Sitting beside me on the bus when there are empty seats elsewhere.”
—willfully_slow
4.
Sweden: “Chatting with strangers for no reason. Either you’re a foreigner or a violent criminal.”
—actias-distincta
5.
Australia: “Honestly, pronouncing out cities. People can be native English speakers or have studied English their whole life, but no one can say ‘Melbourne,’ ‘Brisbane,’ or ‘Cairns’ quite the way an Australian can. And we can always hear it when someone says it wrong.”
6.
Finland: “Stand too close to the person in front of you when queuing for something.”
—Masseyrati80
7.
Germany: “Using the articles ‘der, die, das’ wrong on obvious words, like saying ‘die Auto’ instead of ‘das auto.’ There are some words where even Germans are disputed on which article to choose, but for most words there‘s only one right choice.”
—JaRiEsD
8.
Singapore: “Replying ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to the question ‘Can you do this?’ The Singaporean grammatically correct answer is ‘Can’ or ‘Cannot.'”
—handsomeboh
9.
UK: “By giving a response to ‘all right?’ other than ‘all right’ or ‘yeah, you?’ when asked. ‘All right’ is a greeting here, not a question. The person saying it does not want you to start telling them why you are not all right.”
—Breaking-Dad-
10.
New Zealand: “Saying ‘kiwi’ instead of ‘kiwifruit.’ You don’t eat the bird or the person…well possibly you do, but you don’t advertise it.”
11.
Italy: “Every city in Italy has a ‘musical’ accent, and we’re able to identify almost all of them. Every foreigner will sound non-musical to us or too much out of tune, no matter how correct their Italian might be.”
—lucapoison
12.
Belgium: “Eat a waffle with more toppings than a light sugar coat.”
—Marcel_The_Blank
13.
Brazil: “Trying to say ‘bread’ and saying ‘wood/dick’.”
—blyw_
14.
Canada: “Saying ‘to-rhon-to’ instead of ‘toh-ro-no’ when referring to the city of Toronto.”
15.
Japan: “I cannot even imagine what the scene of someone accidentally exposing themselves as a foreigner would look like. Foreigners are almost always apparently foreigners, especially when they speak Japanese.”
—StereoWings7
16.
France: “If you say ‘sacrebleu,’ you are not French. Nobody says that.”
—Patelle44
17.
Turkey: “Refusing tea.”
—lordkhuzdul
18.
USA: “They ask for my WhatsApp.”
—RockyArby
Got one to add for your country? Let us know in the comments or using the form below!