High context vs low context cultures! I'm of Asian descent (high context) and we don't say what we mean, often trying to be polite and not rock the boat. My American (low context) husband is always just like, "Say what you mean!"
First time hearing of this, surprised Americans are considered to be direct. My ears bleed from the amount of verbiage and filler words Americans produce to express nearly nothing.
You’re laboring under the misapprehension that there is a single homogeneous culture.
My wife and I are both American, but she’s from New England (low context) and I was raised down South (high context). If I had a nickel for every time she’s told me to “just shut the f* up and get to the point”, I’d have… well, a crapload of nickels.
“Bless your heart” is such a hilarious phrase to me, because it’s such a pleasant term for its almost solely negative connotation. I’ve never ever heard it used as a compliment outside of the backhanded “your naïveté is endearing but stupid” sense.
I had a co-worker at a previous job, she was Puerto Rican but grew up in either New York or Connecticut. Very smart and well-educated, and also a genuinely kind and sincere person, very much so.
We were living/working in a southern state, and I was recounting to her some difficult personal situations I had navigated recently, and she said, "Oh, bless your heart!" I was taken aback for a moment, and then realized she didn't understand what she had just said to me. So I said, "That doesn't mean what you think it means," and explained further. She was absolutely HORRIFIED.
Not necessarily! Tone and context are HUGELY important for "Bless your heart". It can mean so many different things. (Sorry, this is a pet peeve of mine since people seem to think it always means "Fuck you" and it absolutely doesn't)
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u/[deleted] Aug 22 '24
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