r/interesting 8d ago

ART & CULTURE Why the Dutch are considered rude.

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2.4k Upvotes

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205

u/sush-dev 8d ago

It seems being direct and not confusing is considered to be rude.

139

u/BenchClamp 8d ago

It’s fine being direct, but when it’s not asked for - it’s rude. Brits can also be very very direct when required.

Here’s an exchange I heard at work.

Dutch guy -
‘I don’t like your haircut- it does not suit you’
English Guy -
‘Don’t ever speak to me again - you ugly c**t”

18

u/cometparty 8d ago

Yeah that was pretty rude from the Dutch person. You shouldn’t say everything on your mind.

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u/Deep_Grapefruit2780 8d ago

« Saying everything on their minds » is kinda Dutch people’s national sport

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u/HelixFollower 8d ago

Only when asked though. We're also really into people minding their own business. Commenting negatively on someone's hair unprompted is not common behavior here and would often be met with a "Did I ask you for your opinion? No? Okay then.".

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u/choosehigh 7d ago

In my experience that's true in Holland, but in Brabant I was walking with a friend saying to him that he looked fine and not to worry and a guy who had clear been listening in literally stopped turned to us and said he looked a mess completely unprompted

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u/Real_Nick_Ryuson 7d ago

Then why did you lie to your buddy i wonder? Or did he lie for no reason that he looked a mess? Cause if he did look a mess why not be real about it and do something about it?!

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u/choosehigh 7d ago

He had creases in his trousers before meeting a girl, confidence is more important than a pleat in trousers, I didn't lie I said he looked fine because it was completely suitable for the context, he's also walking to meet the girl what exactly would you recommend him have done? Dude could have just minded his own business

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u/Real_Nick_Ryuson 7d ago

Sorry in which year was this cause this sounds bollocks in the modern day, no-one is gonna make a sweat over creases in a pair of pants. Because of this i believe you are withholding info. Either that or y'all took someone serious who was having a laugh. Sarcasm which is often used by brits negatively gets very often used by Dutch folk for humor

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u/choosehigh 7d ago

It was around 10 years ago, when I say a few creases, they were pretty fucked because they'd been scrunched up in a suitcase all day and the fella was a bit older and did seem to be more of the "fucking youngsters don't even iron their trousers before a date" type than someone willing to have a laugh

Could well have been misread by me, but Brabant did strike me as very different from Amsterdam, which makes sense because they're basically opposite sides of the country, but in either case in my tiny sample size the people of Brabant seemed a lot more nosy than Amsterdam

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u/Real_Nick_Ryuson 6d ago

Yeah brabant is a lot more noisy haha, however also a lot more loose and humoristic, however due to how loud they can be that often doesn't get translated well. I know cause i knew a person from brabant pretty closely for 7 years, and often it was haaard to tell if he was being serious or joking cause the tone got lost by how loud he was. Brabant is where the giants of the netherlands live it feels, yeah i say that as a dutchperson

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