Am I being a Nazi? Language in the workplace.

**SixPackBack** · 23rd August 2008, 08:22

I work in a company with 60 people and over 20 different nationalities........its fooken awsome, yeah-real interesting

**McJim** · 23rd August 2008, 08:28

Originally Posted by Grahameeboy

Plus the F word was prevalent....

FFS! No it f*cken wisnae right?

**awayatc** · 23rd August 2008, 08:32

that Russian..?

sounds rude...

**CookMySock** · 23rd August 2008, 09:56

Originally Posted by cheese

it sometimes feels like he is slagging me off. or maybe just talking shit.

Be mindful of your thoughts, young jedi - they betray you.

DB

**Jez** · 23rd August 2008, 11:40

well obviously someone in the workplace has a bad habit of listening in on other peoples conversations ... personally i reckon thats pretty rude and if it were in my power i would communicate in a foreign tongue so as the offending big ears would be null and void

**tzrmike** · 23rd August 2008, 14:04

Why don't you learn some Russian? One phrase springs to mind:

"What did you fu#@ing say, c*+t?"

**Slyer** · 23rd August 2008, 17:14

Say you invited two foreign people over for dinner and they started having a conversation with each other in their own language at the table.
Would that not be rude as hell? You and whoever else is there would be completely excluded from the conversation, unable to speak without talking over them, sitting in silence waiting for them to finish. They are intentionally excluding everyone else from what they are talking about.

I would be all for it if they were having a private conversation on their own, but if others are present or they are talking about work they should always speak in the language that most number of people can understand.
There are exceptions... but this should be a general rule.

**Jez** · 23rd August 2008, 18:21

Originally Posted by Slyer

Say you invited two foreign people over for dinner and they started having a conversation with each other in their own language at the table.
Would that not be rude as hell? You and whoever else is there would be completely excluded from the conversation, unable to speak without talking over them, sitting in silence waiting for them to finish. They are intentionally excluding everyone else from what they are talking about.

I would be all for it if they were having a private conversation on their own, but if others are present or they are talking about work they should always speak in the language that most number of people can understand.
There are exceptions... but this should be a general rule.

the dinner example makes absolutely NO SENSE

why would you invite people over for dinner if they had a habit of excluding others from their conversations ... if you know them well enough to invite them for dinner then you know them well enough to know their mannerisms ...

my wife is japanese and she often invites friends over and talk japanese in front of me, unfortunately for me i cant understand a word of it unless it Biru (beer) and chin chin namedan (blowjob) so should i be offended? NFW!

If they are speaking russian between each other in the workplace then they obviously find it easier to communicate that way therefore getting the job done faster rather than wasting time fumbling around the minefield that is the english language. Why should anyone have to understand them if they are getting the job done without any issues?

Again ill restate my previous post ... someones got big ears :P

**YellowDog** · 23rd August 2008, 19:06

Originally Posted by jrandom

Will someone please explain to me how it is offensive?

It is usual and polite to excuse yourself when you wish to communicate in a language that excludes the majority of the audiance. It is polite to communicate in a common language that all can understand. owever personal one-to-one convesrations are perfectly acceptable in a foreign language.

Anyway let me translate for you. "These bloody third world Kiwis! They live in uninhabitable damp and mould infested homes they all believe are worth $500k. No heating, no insulation and they fight over who owns the damn fire wood in the street. They all say that it doesn't get cold enough to need heating, yet they take more time of sick with chronic asthma and influenza than anywhere else in the world - As soon as I save up enough for the airfare - I'm back to Moscow".

And then they usually move on to "In my country comparisoms"

Glad to be of service :-)

**captain_andrey** · 23rd August 2008, 20:37

Originally Posted by cheese

Am I being a Nazi?
...

Well you have to decide if casual conversation is acceptable in your workplace if you are the boss. If it is, I think asking people to speak the language you understand is rude. I speak 2 languages fluently: Russian and English. We also had another Russian at work and sometimes we randomly switch languages. If my boss asked me to speak English I would tell him to stop listening to our conversations.

**Slyer** · 23rd August 2008, 20:46

Originally Posted by Jez

the dinner example makes absolutely NO SENSE

It's just a classic "You wouldn't do...." example.

**Sanx** · 23rd August 2008, 21:48

Originally Posted by McJim

I dunno, I'd the the first to admit that true Glaswegian doesn't really pass muster as English

Doesn't pass muster as human, most of the time...

**Headbanger** · 23rd August 2008, 23:11

Originally Posted by Jez

my wife is japanese and she often invites friends over and talk japanese in front of me, unfortunately for me i cant understand a word of it unless it Biru (beer) and chin chin namedan (blowjob) so should i be offended? NFW!

How often does chin chin namedan come up when your wife is talking to diner guests?