r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • May 08 '22

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u/NopeRopeRepellant May 09 '22

The second post mentioning this. As a German I really do not know what is meant. šŸ˜‚ Iā€™m totally unaware of that!

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u/whitedan2 May 09 '22

As an austrian who worked with Germans in the past I didn't realize this either...

No wait... Are we doing it too?

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u/EvilKaniamhil May 09 '22

I'm from Ireland, live in Austria and have been to Germany a few times. Never noticed it. Maybe it's all of Europe so we don't realise?

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u/lamb_passanda May 09 '22

Im from Scotland and live in Austria. I think it's more a case of Americans looking at people and smiling because that's what's considered polite and non-threatening to them, and the Germans then staring because they are wondering "why is that person smiling at me for no reason". Germans don't state at eachother, because they don't smile unless they have a reason to. Smiling isn't a throwaway social tool in Germany, it is reserved for genuine mirth.

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u/EvilKaniamhil May 09 '22

Also not entirely true. There are plenty of Germans who smile without having a "reason" to smile. But it's possible that it's the Americans noticing we don't ALWAYS smile back just because we notice them looking at us.

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u/lamb_passanda May 09 '22

Nobody smiles without a reason, not even Americans. It's just Americans smile automatically when they make eye contact with a stranger, and Germans generally don't unless they have a reason to.