What is the weirdest thing/cliche you heard about germans?

13 comments

1. We learned a few days ago that Germans don’t understand American toast. For us, toast is just toasted bread of any kind. This particular German on this sub was very adamant that toast is not the same as bread.

2. I don’t know if it’s true or not but I heard you guys don’t really show emotions

3. I think everyone is aware of German cars, I think the person you read about was a moron.

4. Any kind of national pride or patriotism is a huge problem for Germans. Flying the flag just is not allowed and being proud of your country is a quick way to get cast out or even arrested.

5. They enjoy digging holes at beaches

6. Hmmm…. This is a stereotype from generations ago, probably based on US immigrants from Germany, but there is a thing called having a “German temper” which describes people who when something is bothering them they show no sign of it but after a while may suddenly fly into a rage.

7. It’s said that Germans don’t understand Brit/American humor.

8. I am aware getting a license there is significantly more involved than for us, but I have no idea why someone would think you don’t drive cars and the razor thing is just baffling.

   I’ve known a few germans, little more reserved than americans tend to be (which goes for a lot of the world) but otherwise just folks.

   Standard stereotype joke fodder is mostly based around being humorless or the language, either from sounding really aggressive to us or the habit of smashing multiple words together and calling it a new word. Like “oh there’s a word in german for that thing english takes a whole sentence for!” “What is it?” “THATTHINGENGLISHTAKESAWHOLESENTENCEFOR” “…..dude you just said the sentence fast and with harsher consonants”

9. That every German goes to Oktoberfest every year and it’s a huge super popular thing. I’ve since learned that only one of my German friends had ever been to Oktoberfest — and we lived in Bavaria, it was very close. I saw Germans when I went to Oktoberfest but there were definitely more visitors.

   I also found it weird that it is somewhat common to drink a beer on your lunch break from work. Weird and beautiful. I support it.

10. Germans love nudity and sex and have a lot of dominatrix

11. I was told Germans are kind of cold and “don’t have a sense of humor.” I now work for a company that is based in Austria, and we also have a lot of Germans in my building too. I’ve noticed Germans are pretty quiet and keep to themselves. I wouldn’t say that’s cold, they’re just not going to go out of their way to talk to you unless it’s business related.

    Also, I’ve noticed my German coworkers speak impeccable English but they feel like they don’t.

12. Greeting people already there when you enter a waiting room. It sounds very Japanese to me.

    Personally, I find what I’ve heard about the tensions between the former east and west odd. I mean, I get it’s only been a little over 30 years, but it still seems odd to me.

13. There is a commomly held notion that Germans are more into scat play (people shitting on each other for sexual gratification) than other peoples. There is also a similar notion that British men are more likely to engage in baby play (wearing diapers and wanting a woman to treat them like babies, change them, nurse them etc.).

    Both of these sound like bullshit to me, but you never know. Every weird fetish has to be at least slightly more popular *somewhere*.

    More likely though it is like the stereotype that Swedish women are more sexually liberated. That one got started because the first early hardcore pornographic films all came from Sweden. That wasn’t because Swedish women are tramps, but because Swedish law was more permissive at the time so it wasn’t a crime to make pornos. As we found out, as soon as it was no longer a crime to make films of people fucking, there was no shortage of American girls willing to do it.

    The same is probably true of Germany with poop and Brits with baby stuff. There is probably a reason these things got associated with those cultures that has to do with pop culture more than actual reality.