The
French students were very diverse in their answers. However, the French
students seemed more concerned about the future of rude people (ex. "ne
sert a rien") and had the idea that being impolite was wrong
("incorrecte") that MIT students did not have. Also, the MIT students
were much more concerned with disrespecting and offending others, while
the French students were much more simple, saying things like "doesn't
respond to hello" (which isn't necessarily considered rude in the US).

Hello everyone,

I would like to comment on the differences between the french
and american views on a rude person/une personne impolie. I noticed
that french students seemed to be more concerned with day to day
impoliteness such as "quel qu'un que ne dit pas bonjour" while the
american descriptions seemed to be about cruder actions like spitting,
swearing, yelling, and overall disrespect. My belief is that this
discrepancy in definitions seems to be a result of a poor translation.
The correct translation for "impoli" is "impolite" which has a
completely different connotation than the word "rude." Rude for us is
definitely harsher and more extreme thn impolite which I guess would
explain the differences in responses.

I am however curious to know if in France it is considered
impolite for someone not to say hello to a stranger. Perhaps it is
different, but here if a random stranger were to walk up and say hi it
would seem rather strange or awkward. Is it that same reaction in
France, or would it be considered rude if a stranger didn't say hi?

Bonjour Natalia,

Tu as raison : je pense que le mot "rude" a sensiblement la même
signification pour vous que le mot "grossier" pour nous, plutôt
qu'"impoli".

En ce qui concerne le fait de dire "bonjour", nous ne le
faisons pas chaque fois que nous croisons quelqu'un dans la rue (ça
pourrait devenir particulièrment fatiguant aux heures de pointes ;-D ),
mais - à en croire les élèves étrangers à l'X - nous le faisons
beaucoup plus souvent que dans d'autres pays. Les coutumes varient
selon les régions et les générations, mais dans tous les cas il est
généralement considéré comme impoli de ne pas dire "bonjour" à vos
voisins ou aux personnes travaillant au même endroit que vous lorsque
vous les croisez, même si vous ne les connaissez pas personnellement.
En fait la différence entre personne familière et personne étrangère
n'est pas que l'on dit "bonjour" à l'une et rien à l'autre, mais que
l'on sert la main/embrasse l'une alors que l'on dit simplement
"bonjour" à l'autre ...

I
find the idea of saying "hi" to every stranger one encounters quite
hilarious (it would indeed be fatiguing). Can you imagine doing so on
the streets of New York?

Reading your posts on this topic made me curious about
somewhat the opposite situation--an instance in which it is considered
rude to approach someone you don't know and try to strike up a
conversation. For instance, sometimes people will stand at 77 Mass Ave
(the entrance to the main building at MIT) and try to engage people in
a conversation. Sometimes they have political pamphlets or some other
social agenda. Even when they're not asking for money, they seem to
make people really uncomfortable (i.e. people tend to try to cross the
street as far away from them as possible).

I'm wondering if any of you Polytechniciens have had the same
experience of a stranger with an agenda try to talk to you on the
street and whether or not it makes you uncomfortable and/or you think
it is rude?

La
question de la traduction est effectivment une très bonne question.
J'ai cherché dans le dictionaire ( Le Robert & Collins ;) et Rude
et Impolite sont traduits par impoli. Peut être que les différences
auraient étées moins importantes si Rude avait été remplacé par
Impolite...

En ce qui concerne le fait de dire "bonjour", en effet en
France on dit bonjour aux gens qu'on connait. Si on ne me dis pas
"bonjour" je peux en effet être tenté de penser que cette personne ne
m'apprecie pas du tout et qu'elle est impolie. Cette coutume de dire
"bonjour" dépend enormement du contexte dans lequel on est. A Paris,
dans la rue, personne ne se dit "bonjour", non seulement on n'aurait
pas le temps de dire bonjour à tout le monde, mais surtout cela
paraîtrait bizare, et on aurait tendance à se mefier de vous. Par
contre dès qu'on va s'adresser particulièrment à quelqu'un pour une
raison quelconque alors là on dit bonjour. Je connais plusieurs amis
qui travaillent dans des magasins, il y en a un qui ne repond pas aux
clients tant qu'ils ne lui ont pas dis bonjour par exemple. Il a
l'impression que quand on ne lui dis pas bonjour on le meprise et on se
considère supérieur à lui, lui dire bonjour lui fait comprendre qu'on a
un minimum de respect pour lui.

Par contre, si l'on croise quelqu'un qu'on connait, là il faudrait lui dire bonjour.

Ensuite, plus le cadre devient intime et plus on dira bonjour
aux gens. Un cas extrème par exemple est le cas des randonneurs
montagnares. Je crois qu'il est de coutume que lorsque deux randonneurs
se croisent en montagne ils se disent bonjour.

The
funny thing about saying "hi" randomly, is that it is often a "game"
for children. While they are riding the bus to and from school, they
wave and shout hello to strangers in cars or on the street and see how
they respond. Most of the time, the children will be ignored. But
sometimes, there are people who smile and wave back.

But
sometimes if you see people you don't even know, in a place that you're
not familiar with, saying "hi" to you, you think they're weird.
Especially if they're saying "hi" to every single person. Or maybe
that's just me...And obviously if you know the person, it's common
courtesy to acknowledge them with a simple "hello" or wave or smile.

I'm
curious to know how certain situations are typically handled in France.
For example, if you were in an elevator with a stranger, is it custom
to acknowledge them with a hello, or not?

Also, in school, if you walk into a room and don't know
anyone, is it considered strange to introduce yourself to random people
or is that how is usually works?