what say czech
Other General & Trivia

What Not to Say to a Czech Person

“Different country, different customs” – this applies anywhere you go. Whilst some faux-pas can be just some cute misunderstandings, others can lead to eternal wrath of the indigenous. And to avoid that wrath in the Czech Republic you should definitely read about the things you are NOT to say to a Czech person.

And read also about the misconceptions about the Czech Republic to avoid possible fist-fights;-)

1. “So you’re from Prague!”

Believe it or not but not every Czech person you meet comes from the capital. It might seem like a silly thing to point out but we’ve met enough foreigners whose response was just that!

2. “It’s all Russian anyway”

The Czech language belongs to the Slavic language family. When you’re a tourist in the Czech Republic, the locals don’t expect you to learn their language. What is expected, is basic respect which includes not saying that “it doesn’t matter what you speak here because it’s all basically Russian anyway”.

3. “Budwar is American”

Budweiser Budvar or Budějovický Budvar comes from České Budějovice. The brand was established in 1895 as Czech Joint-Stock Brewery and it is definitely a Czech beer brand.

4. “We do it better in our country”

It’s understandable that you love your home and your country and that you find some things better in your country than in the Czech Republic. It is ok to explain how you do things differently but in a polite way. If you keep reminding a Czech person that your country is better in every way, you might very well hear that “you should go back to your country then”.

5. “Your humor is insensitive”

Czech humor is black and Czechs laugh like there is no tomorrow, deal with it. There’s no place for snowflakes ready to be offended by anything and everything. Czech humor was formed by the hard times the nation had to endure during the WW 2 and the German occupation and during the 40-year-long communist era. Humor helped people survive and continues to do so. So you might hear more than a few jokes about death, illness, famine and race. That does not mean that the Czech people mean for real what they joke about, it’s just jokes, so don’t take yourself too seriously and just laugh with them!

 

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