The World's Rudest Nation is...

Surprise, surprise... France, according to travel site Skyscanner who recently ran a poll. Here is the top ten. 

1. French 19.2%
2. Russian 16.6%
3. British 10.4%
4. German 9.9%
5. Chinese 4.3%
6. American 3.3%
7. Spanish 3.1%
8. Italian 2.3%
9. Polish 2.2%
10. Turkish 2.1%

I have to say, most Frenchmen and women I've met outside of France don't match this description. They've actually been some of the least pretentious people. The French in Paris weren't the most polite, but I find most big city dwellers are assholes, no matter the country. It's stressful living with noise and congestion 24/7.

Interesting that the Dutch aren't in the top ten, given "rudeness" is supposed to be a characteristic and that the British and Americans are 3rd and 6th respectively when we value manners. Apparently the rest of the world sees us differently. Tatiana Danilova, Russian Market Manager for Skyscanner commented: “Russians can be more direct when talking, which may be misconstrued as being rude. However, this is more a difference in culture than genuine rudeness. The Russian language is not as polite as English, so when Russians translate directly from Russian to English, it can sound rude to an English speaker even if they don’t mean it to." 

You could replace Russian with Dutch or most other languages and that quote would be true. Although, at least here kids use the phrase, "Mag ik...?" for May I when asking for something. Spanish tends to be imperative base with no word like "maar" at the end to soften the barked order.

As for the most polite nations, they are: Brazilians, those from the Caribbean islands and Filipinos. I'd have to add Thais, too, as long as you don't give them a noogie.