Welcome to best of WatchMojo, the series
that features some of WatchMojo's best
travel videos! Uh hey hold up a second
you may not want to do that
welcome to mojo travels and today we're
counting down our picks for the top ten
American customs that may be offensive
in other countries come on are you a fan
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this list we'll be looking at actions
that are considered completely normal in
American culture but aren't exactly
welcomed in others due to different
understandings and traditions this is
Natalia she is my sister
number 10 wearing shoes in the house
yeah I'm fine man I just stubbed my toe
oh well be careful man be careful wear
shoes in the house safety safety first
and teamwork our first entry actually
makes a whole lot of sense
honestly Americans may be wise to take
note in many Asian and Caribbean
cultures you are expected to take your
shoes off when entering a home for
sanitary reasons think about it when
you're outside your shoes come into
contact with endless amounts of dirt and
germs a study published in the
scientific journal environmental science
and technology revealed that two-thirds
of household dust comes from soil
tracked or blown in from outside taking
your shoes off at the door prevents
health hazards and when you have
children playing on the carpets you want
to prevent some unwanted illness so
Americans take them off would you house
in my house
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number nine altering your meal with
condiments kinda good no hot sauce kind
of good though in the States
it's not uncommon to drown our favorite
foods and ketchup mustard mayo vinegar
relish whatever the heart desires it's
almost expected that is not the case
however in many places abroad in
countries like France Italy Spain and
Japan treating food with condiments can
be considered a major insult in these
countries it's understood that a meal is
carefully prepared and designed to
achieve a specific taste altering the
meal is an insult to the chef and
essentially saying the meal is not good
enough to be eaten on its own and needs
extra flavor just to be bearable
probably not what Americans intend but
that's the message received
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topping number eight showing the soles
of your feet that's what needs rubbin
like our first entry there's a certain
amount of logic behind this one that we
totally get that and an understanding of
symbolism it all has to do with the fact
that the sole of your foot is the lowest
part of the human body and that it
touches the dirty ground in many
Buddhist Hindu Muslim and Arab cultures
this means the foot symbolizes the
lowest level of humanity and well dirt
so if an American reveals the sole of
their foot to another person the message
conveyed is that they think the other
person is only worthy of yes dirt that's
not exactly received as a compliment
number seven asking what do you do so
what do you do for a living what a
dancer ballet no exotic in American
culture asking someone about their job
is totally normal it's one of those go
to conversation topics when you meet
someone new and don't have a lot to talk
about people typically use it to be
polite finding an interest in the person
across from them what do you do work me
and my roommates have started
restraining an internet website
the thing is in many other countries
inquiring about someone's job is not
polite at all in countries like the
Netherlands it's actually considered
fairly insulting because it implies you
will treat a person differently based on
their employment status particularly in
countries with social welfare systems it
emphasizes a concern for class and
social status rather than the personal
qualities and values that make a person
unique so you're a paleontologist right
yeah my cousins a paleontologist uh-huh
number six blowing your nose in public
okay for a few of these entries you may
be starting to notice a pattern
pertaining to cleanliness totally
understandable cleanliness is related to
health and who wants to get sick and
when blowing your nose you're
potentially spreading germs and nobody
wants that but in countries like China
Japan France and some Middle Eastern
countries it's as much about politeness
as cleanliness after all blowing your
nose is a form of spreading germs that a
person can actually control a sneeze is
involuntary
but blowing one's nose is a completely
conscious choice so for future reference
Americans be sure to head to the
bathroom
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number five finishing off your plate
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in America polishing off your plate is a
compliment
it means you thoroughly enjoyed your
meal and not doing so may send the
message that you disliked your food
she's gonna puke but Robyn did not puke
she ate that bite and stood up proud
however in countries like China the
Philippines Thailand and Russia the
exact opposite is true
finishing your plate means that the host
did not prepare enough food for you
while Americans probably hope to
compliment their host by eating
everything on their plate they are
actually implying the host did not
provide enough in the first place if you
really want to make your host happy
leave a bite or two behind also in an
Arab country don't refuse food you're
offered that's considered disrespectful
Tina number four laughing with your
mouth open
could you pay me in advance all right in
Japan this one proves to be offensive on
two levels
first like many on this list it's a
little unsanitary laughing with your
mouth open can spew germs into the air
to infect all in the area so yes those
in your vicinity may not be too thrilled
but there's actually another reason why
this custom is considered insulting in
Japan the visual and auditory experience
of open mouth laughter is compared to
horses squealing women in Japan will
usually cover their mouths when laughing
in public places it's only polite to
separate yourself from the animals
number three using your left hand for
anything like one out of every nine
Americans I'm left-handed and let me
tell you it ain't all peaches and cream
you're writing it's smeared lord help
you if you want to drive a standard
transmission okay in America it doesn't
really matter whether you use your right
hand or left to do anything it's not
even a thought that crosses anyone's
mind but in many Middle Eastern and
African countries the left
and carries special significance
historically the left was the hand used
during sanitary procedures you should
not eat with your left hand in India we
eat with the right hand left hand is
considered to be unclean specifically
the left hand with some water is used in
lieu of toilet paper because of this
presenting another person with the left
hand is associating that person with the
dirtiness of well you get the picture as
we are sure all our viewers can
understand it's offensive to be
associated with that better play it safe
and use the right hand number two
throwing a thumbs up I like Halloween
event Amash is nice there are a lot of
common hand signs out there that can be
interpreted as vulgar elsewhere you have
the peace sign the a-ok crossing your
fingers you may have to think about that
one but the most widely spread offensive
hand sign is the thumbs up thumbs up
dude good pitch for many countries in
the Middle East Latin America and Europe
the thumbs up sign is the equivalent of
the American middle finger you all know
what that means but here's the thing
it's a major problem for Americans
because in America the thumbs up is
probably the most positive sign you can
give someone except for of course the
double thumbs up sadly that is not the
case abroad be warned Americans restrain
yourselves no thumbs up you'll thank us
later and my own personal thumbs up
before we unveil our number one pick
here are some honorable mentions
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number one tipping I don't tip you know
tip I don't believe in it of all the
entries on this list our number one pick
is probably the most well known with
that said Americans continue to make
this mistake and it continues to be
offensive tipping is such a difficult
custom to navigate because not tipping
holds such a stigma in the United States
let's get one thing straight if you live
in America you have to tip in America
tipping is expected in restaurants as
waiters depend on them and customers are
chastised if they tip poorly however in
countries like Japan and South Korea
tipping is actually frowned upon because
it's considered charity in these
countries
waiters take pride in their job and are
insulted by the added incentive to do a
good job ultimately it signals a lack of
respect so when you're out to eat in
certain Asian countries it's best that
you just don't do this should we not tip
I don't want to get yelled at do you
agree with our picks check out this
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you