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11.06.2010, 22:17
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH
I have to agree with Baboon, I have always taken my shoes OFF when visiting unless | Quote: |  | | | your hosts really insist (by telling you you donn't have to at least twice, for example) | | | | | as was said. This would be in the Zurich area, Schaffhausen, Basel, "out east" and as far as Graubünden, where you get those lovely felt overshoes to slip into so that you ont need to take off your boots, depending on how long you are staying.
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11.06.2010, 23:02
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH | Quote: | |  | | | Practising the ISHT DASH NOCH FREI is good fun - but should it be pronounced ISHT DASH NOCH FREE ? | | | | | ish daas no frei
or
ish's da no frei
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12.06.2010, 09:14
| | Re: Customary manners in CH | Quote: | |  | | | | Quote: | |  | | | Practising the ISHT DASH NOCH FREI is good fun - but should it be pronounced ISHT DASH NOCH FREE ? | | | | | ish daas no frei
or
ish's da no frei | | | | | Dialect, Wolli, dialect!!! Apparently, they have a number of them here in the Swiss... | This user would like to thank for this useful post: | | 
12.06.2010, 09:21
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH
Wolli, you are on a bad streak, wrong twice in 1 thread alone! 
It is customary in many households to take off your shoes, but that depends on the household, not the region. And "Isch da no frii ?" (pronounced free) is correct, depending on the dialect. | 
12.06.2010, 10:04
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH
Where do they say frii ? (Just curious and eager to learn)
Shoes off or not... frankly, my experience is that in Geneva, you just do not have take them off unless there is mud on them. If you do keep relatively clean shows on, they do not stop you, that's all. In Basel, I've never took them off. Nobody told me anything either, and I have no idea if I pissed off people as I have not visited everybody more than once.
How many times you took them off when you did not need to? That I don't know.
How many times I should have take them off but did not? Don't know either.
But my social life is all right. When I was told to take shows off, I did. Otherwise, bad luck for the silent angry people. My guess is that there are very few of them. I would say that in educated houses, one would expect people to keep their shoes (why educated people and their guests would have cleaner shoe soles than other, I don't get this part...) because I have witnesses comments about Germans taking their shoes off and not acting as educated people doing so. But it may also be rant about Germans and not about guest socks.
__________________ Es wird nichts ausgelassen, um mich hier herauszuekeln. Ein Lehrbuch. False accusations and attacks continue. There is no stopping righteous people when they are wrong.
Last edited by Faltrad; 12.06.2010 at 10:16.
Reason: rewording.
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12.06.2010, 10:54
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH | Quote: | |  | | | Wolli, you are on a bad streak, wrong twice in 1 thread alone! 
It is customary in many households to take off your shoes, but that depends on the household, not the region. And "Isch da no frii ?" (pronounced free) is correct, depending on the dialect.  | | | | | In Zürich you do not say "frii" as that would be "Innerschwiizerisch". In Zürich people say "frei". And so in Zürich it rather will be "Isches da no frei"
In the apartment block where I live, it looks as if the "to take the shoes off" is far more a thing of non-Swiss than of Swiss. Kosovari, Russians, and Chinese for example.
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12.06.2010, 11:18
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH | Quote: | |  | | | in zürich you do not say "frii" as that would be "innerschwiizerisch". in zürich people say "frei". And so in zürich it rather will be "isches da no frei"
. | | | | | keine komment | 
12.06.2010, 11:42
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH
I did notice that many Europeans tend to have a hard time taking their shoes off at somebody else's house....not sure why.
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12.06.2010, 11:48
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH
Southern half of Europe, ya. In France, it is even rude to ask people to take shows off. You would also put shoes on when being host.
Germany and Scandinavia is a I-show-my-feet-culture-area. Any occasion to walk in socks or bare feet will be taken (Exception: wealthy Hamburg society, who likes to copy English "club" attitudes).
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12.06.2010, 11:51
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH
The main way I know of good manners in CH is to follow the rules precisely and to write letters if you want anything
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12.06.2010, 11:53
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH
I have heard frii from people that come from Graubünden too. Frei (pronounced fray or fry) is what I hear most. If the train/tram is not too busy, I will ask if the seat is free, if its busy, i just ask the person to move their bag.
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12.06.2010, 11:54
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH | Quote: | |  | | | I have heard frii from people that come from Graubünden too. Frei (pronounced fray or fry) is what I hear most. If the train/tram is not too busy, I will ask if the seat is free, if its busy, i just ask the person to move their bag. | | | | | I'm obnoxious..I usually just sit down.
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12.06.2010, 12:09
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH | Quote: | |  | | | Southern half of Europe, ya. In France, it is even rude to ask people to take shows off. You would also put shoes on when being host.
Germany and Scandinavia is a I-show-my-feet-culture-area. Any occasion to walk in socks or bare feet will be taken (Exception: wealthy Hamburg society, who likes to copy English "club" attitudes). | | | | | I was brought up being told to put shoes on when having guests.
************************************************** ************ | Quote: | |  | | | I have heard frii from people that come from Graubünden too. Frei (pronounced fray or fry) is what I hear most. If the train/tram is not too busy, I will ask if the seat is free, if its busy, i just ask the person to move their bag. | | | | |
That may well be, but take my word, if you speak about "frii" or "Polizii" you have your outing as a serious Innerschwiizer Provinzler behind you
************************************************** ***********
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12.06.2010, 12:20
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH | Quote: | |  | | | I did notice that many Europeans tend to have a hard time taking their shoes off at somebody else's house....not sure why. | | | | | - holey socks
- smelly feet
two main reasons | 
12.06.2010, 12:22
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH | Quote: | |  | | | - holey socks
- smelly feet
two main reasons  | | | | | ...my sh*t don't stink. | 
12.06.2010, 12:31
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH | Quote: | |  | | | I was brought up being told to put shoes on when having guests. | | | | | It's interesting to see how Switzerland sometimes goes with Germanic Europe, sometimes with Latin Europe. A kind of Sauerkraut with Basilikum. | This user would like to thank Faltrad for this useful post: | | 
12.06.2010, 12:33
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH | Quote: | |  | | | It's interesting to see how Switzerland sometimes goes with Germanic Europe, sometimes with Latin Europe. A kind of Sauerkraut with Basilikum.  | | | | | ...don't forget the Aromat either. | 
12.06.2010, 12:49
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH | Quote: | |  | | |
That may well be, but take my word, if you speak about "frii" or "Polizii" you have your outing as a serious Innerschwiizer Provinzler behind you 
************************************************** *********** | | | | | By who, if I may ask? Some judgemental schweizer maybe?
And dont you think the bündner dialect for the rest of the sentence might be a bit of a give away?  Do you know Prättigau at all?
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12.06.2010, 12:51
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH | Quote: | |  | | | ...don't forget the Aromat either.  | | | | | Does that help against smelly feet? | 
12.06.2010, 14:03
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| | Re: Customary manners in CH | Quote: | |  | | | ...my sh*t don't stink.  | | | | | because you are used to .....  |
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