#english ppl stereotype scots as dour and unfriendly. when i go to england i often feel like ppl are a bit too loud and in my face

[tyrannuspitch]

not reblogging the whole thread because it's reeeally long but the interesting thing to me about that post about cultural differences in etiquette, beginning with how you always need to say "bonjour" before any interaction in france, is that it really takes a bit of effort for me to wrap my head around the idea that starting a conversation with "excuse me" is LESS polite than "hello". like... "excuse me" effectively IS a greeting, and an apology at the same time. of course you can say it in a rude way, as with anything else, but it's really just a compressed way of saying "hello stranger i'm so sorry to disturb you". using "hello" alone where "excuse me" is appropriate would come across as entitled, maybe even creepy; "excuse me" acknowledges the correct emotional distance to keep from strangers. of course there's no objective correct answer here. but it's interesting to think about anyway.

eta: like it's especially interesting because the thread mostly goes into the politenes of doing a social ritual vs the politeness of doing things quickly so you don't waste time... but this difference isn't that. this difference is literally order of priorities. in my culture we want to apologise and acknowledge personal space as quickly as possible so we merge the apology with the greeting. in others the greeting is sacred so you have to wait for the apology, if there is one at all. hmmmm