How far apart do Poles stand when they talk?

I'd say about 60 to 70 centimetres on average.

Mediterranean people tend to stand closer to eachother during conversation, I'd guess about 30 to 40 cm. This can seem a bit imposing to northern Europeans. There may be other people who stand further apart from eachother during conversational intercourse.

Discuss.

hahaha you'd think it'd be hard to stand far apart during 'conversational intercourse'

I've never noticed anything odd about person to person distance whilst taking part in conversation with Polish people, although I have noticed that Spanish, Italian and Greek people I have spoken to, tend to stand closer. I don't know where to look this kind of thing up (what the hell does one call this subject?) Taking it to be a north-south thing, one would expect Norwegians to stand even further apart, whilst Eskimos would merely shout at eachother across several metres of icy northern landscape, although I have a feeling Eskimos stand closer together.

We have on this forum, Poles, Britons, Americans, a couple of Greeks, at least one Spaniard, a very famous Serb... I was hoping someone might chime in with some interesting (... yawn) facts about this matter, but I'm even boring myself with it and resorting to words like "intercourse" to try to liven it up.

gays


and i would agree

What about Brits?

Arms length more or less,..?

what about them?

Depends how long your arms are...


How far they stand apart.

apart from what?

Each other when talking.

Do keep up 007.

:)

Poles apart.

In India/Nepal/ south America it is common for males to touch as they talk.
They hold hands as they walk down the street or arm in arm.
They are not homosexual.
This is sometimes very uncomfortable for Europeans as we have a different concept of personal space.

I believe (I have no proof) that this is why we are known as the ice people.
There is a definite change in character of people the further North you go.

I once asked a question about Poles, whether they are culturally northern Europeans or southern Europeans. Typically from some, the answer came back that they are eastern, even from people who in an east west argument, prefer to say that Poles are central European. Others said Slavdom doesn't appear in such a discussion, but we get the same kind of "us and them" seperation when British people talk about European identity.

Standing further apart in conversation is a northern European thing, although maybe not exclusively.

I'd quite like to get Crow into this room. He likes talking about Serbia, and I'd like to know whether Serbia is closer in this respect, to Poland or to the Mediterranean thing.

...it's the fault of the "faux west" and the "evil Germans" anyhow....

Finally, he gets it.

Yes, European people tend to stay to close when they talk. It does not matter if they are from Italy or England...sorry...they are close enough to smell their breath or even 'feel" a spit on the face. Yuck. I prefer the American way, plenty of space.

I found an interesting article about personal space perceptions between cultures.

It is kind of funny to read although mainly about American and Russian misperceptions about each other due to cultural conditioning about how far away people stand, and other things such as voice volume and facial expressions. Towards the end of the article, it sums up the differences between Russians, Americans, and Northern Europeans:





friends-partners.org/partners/spbweb/lifestyl/122/how.html

Yes softsong, people should research the culture before going for a visit or a short stay. Even your hand gestures can be offensive, if you don't know...

Pity, but a lot of western world thinks that their is the 'right" way - it is not. Travel is the best educating experience one can acquire. No book can describe what the eyes can see. The world does not end at the tip of your nose.

So, before you buy the plane ticket to Poland or Thailand..or Mumbai...do some research.
Only then then you can enjoy your stay.

Some in North America do that too

It looks like Bush was complying with the Saudi culture. One of the things he did right..I guess.
Wow. They look GOOD together! :)

I think I could guess who the "pitcher" is, and who the "catcher" is.

I think I can see it too... I want to see Obama in the next picture! :)

I knew there was a term for what I was talking about, a term of American origin (thanks, Yanks) without which we are left floundering with difficult terms like "how far apart from each other people stand during conversation or social interraction". As long as people aren't emoting, it's fine by me. That definitely makes me a northern European.

Depends on how bad the breath of the others is.

if you think that was good then this is just down right sexy. ;)

You got that one right
youtube.com/watch?v=LKdma0PmLC0

i wonder what the did later that night.........................................

i feel creeped out if somebody stands within a meter of me

I hope everyone who has commented on this thread has actually tried carrying a tape measure or ruler around with them so that they can check the distances they have given here are correct.

dont you think that would be weird measuring how far apart you stand when you talk its like "what are you doing you freak!" "oh im just measuring how far apart we stand for a website"

That might be a bit weird, but if someone does stand uncomfortably close to you, you could get a tape measure out of your pocket, just as a subtle hint.

I agree with Eurola. Europeans stand way close when talking. Americans stay much farther away. That's how we like it!