Faux pas

:For the web comic, see Faux Pas (webcomic).

Examples

For a full list, see List of Faux Pas

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African Regions

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• A right-handed handshake.

Arab countries

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• Displaying the soles of your feet or touching somebody with your shoes.
• Eating with your left hand. Throughout most of the Middle East the left hand is reserved for bodily hygiene. Thus, the right hand should be used for eating.

China

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• Giving someone a timepiece as a gift. Traditional superstitions regard this as counting the seconds to the recipient's death. Another possible interpretation of this is that the phrase "to give clock" in Chinese is "song zhong," which is a homophone of a phrase for "attending a funeral."

Central Europe

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• Shaking hands while wearing gloves (this does not apply to women).

France

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• Giving chrysanthemums to a host or hostess; in France, chrysanthemums are given to mourners after a death, and to give them at any other time is in bad taste.
• Asking for cheese after taking dessert.

Japan

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• Holding anything with chopsticks by two people at the same time, or passing an item from chopsticks to chopsticks is considered very impolite, as it will remind bystanders of the Japanese funeral ritual. Sticking them into food (and especially rice) has similar connotations.
• When greeting or thanking another person, not bowing lower than the other person when the other person is older than you or has a higher social status.
• Not sending a New Year's postcard to someone who sent you one.
• Sending a New Year's postcard to someone who suffered a death in the family during the past year.

Romania; Russia; Slovakia; Czech Republic; Hungary; Serbia

Related Topics:
Romania - Russia - Slovakia - Czech Republic - Hungary - Serbia

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• Giving somebody an even number of flowers. This should only be done in funerals.

Scandinavia

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• Not taking your shoes off when you enter somebody's home.
• Being late. The Nordic countries are unusually punctual, with meetings, events, and public transport usually happening on time.
• Placing a phonecall to somebody after 10PM/22:00.

Thailand

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• Touching somebody in the head (in Buddhism the head is the most pure region of the body).
• Stepping over or standing on bills or coins (they all have the face of the King, who is highly revered).

United Kingdom

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• Not apologising if you and a stranger bump into each other, even if it was not your fault.
• Signifying "two" of something by holding up two fingers with the back of the hand pointed towards the listener can be mistaken for an offensive gesture (similar to the finger). Holding up two fingers with the hand held the other way (palm of the hand towards the listener) is perfectly acceptable.

United States

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• Not leaving a proper tip or gratuity for a waiter at a restaurant. While some establishments in other countries may add a gratuity to the bill, in the US this is not usually done and is left up to the patron to leave an adequate tip depending on the quality of service. Tips for average service range anywhere from 15-20% of the final charges.
• Not waiting to be seated in a restaurant.