Cultural No-No's in Mexico?

Question

So I'm going to Mexico 5/3-5/11. Just curious what are the cultural No-No's in Mexico. Or things I should keep in mind. You know things you would easily overlook in the US, but may have a completely different meaning/take in Mexico by locals. Thank You.

~G

Answer 1

DO NOT whistle, hum, or knock on anything the tune to "shave and a haircut...2 bits" it means something very bad about someones mother doing bad things with someone...in other words you would be insulting whoever is in earshot. Its not like here in the US where it is just a cute little ditty and people use it to knock on doors, etc. as a way of identifying their presence. If you do that in Mexico, you are very likely to get hit if not worse.

Answer 2

¿?

¡no,no!, means = no,no!

or like: "¡no,no; está re lejos!"= "hey, it's so far!"

I'm sorry, your question confuses me. "No" means "not", we often repeat no (as no,no), but is still the same.

I would like to be more helpful, but I don't know how to.

In general, US people (gringo people) use to say clearly and directly what they want or think; while we (mexican people) don't, we always use more words and we never go direct to the point. There is an idiom: "ir al grano"="going to the grain", as the chickens; mexicans usually don't "go to the grain" as directly, clear and fast as US people. Mexicans usually "se andan por las ramas" ("go throw the branchs", again, not directly), and many times we say the opposite we mean, but we assume we are beeing understood. This is a huge problem:

If you invite a mexican to eat we always will say "no, thanks" but we, actually, are accepting and expecting you to say "come on"; then after two or three times of "no thanks" we will say "Ok".

Or if we say "vamos a tener una fiesta en tu casa" ("we are going to have a party at your house") it means at MY house, not yours (this actual happened).

Also, we call people from US "gringos", but that is NOT an offensive word; we don't like call them "americans" 'cause anyone from Canada to Argentina, included Brazil, Cuba, Guatemala, Haití or any country in this continent is, actually, an "american". The correct word to call people from USA is "estadounidense" (check a spanish dictionary; Estados Unidos means United States), but that word is too long, we prefer "gringo". The offensive word is another and we use it before the word "gringo" or "mexicano" or any.

Answer 3

You already have a very good answer as to what to do, but as far as what not to do... I'd say show your breast, only drunken girls (sorry but mostly American) do it, it's denigrating.

Don't go to bed on the first night you meet someone, be careful with that, just common sense would tell you not to do it on a foreign country.

I don't know your plans, but if you're planning to attend a fancy restaurant or a church service, dress up, showing up in shorts, sandals and swimming suit with a tanktop is disrispectful.

Dressing up would be, a simple skirt and a blouse without sleeves, or a dress up to your knee, again sleevless if you prefer that for the heat, and sandals but not the kind you wear for the beach, maybe highheel.

Keep your voice down, usually Latinamerican people are loud, but somehow when Americans come they get loud, it can be annoying LOL.

Thanks for caring!!! and enjoy your trip.

Answer 4

I agree fully with the kissing on the cheek thing. Mexicans will still tolerate you feeling strange about giving a kiss salute because you're a gringo, though if you want to blend in with the locals you should do it.

Give a kiss on the cheek to women, and a hand salute to the men (and if you're female, you give cheek kisses to everyone).

When I mean everyone; when you're visiting someone's house most specifically for a party, you have to salute everyone the mexican way. It doesn't matter if there's 5 people or 50 (however, the rule can be excempted when you're at a party where the house is infested with noise and people and nobody sees you come in, you just salute the hosts and people you already know). You are supposed to do the sallute when you come in and when you leave.

If you're in a huge hurry to leave, a goodbye wave can work okay.

If you're at an informal party and get drunk and pass out, normally the hosts will still tolerate you passing out in the middle of the room and will require friends to take you somwehere else to take a nap. Hopefully you don't end up vomiting (a friend of mine did that in a friends car but since the friend is very close she didn't mind since he helped pay to get it cleaned up).

Hrm.. the mother offense thing. More than speaking bad about your mother, NEVER offend the mother of a friend that doesn't know you very well. There's a reason why the word mother can be used as a huge offense in this country though if you're with friends at an informal enviroment and say "p**a madre" or something because you lost your wallet or hit yourself in the knee or something, it's okay. People will get angry if you speak like that in formal places though.

Hrm.. mexicans being indirect... Dunno, I find mexicans to be pretty direct myself, though saying the direct opposite of a phrase on purpose hoping you'll catch the real meaning happens here though people will probably avoid speaking like that to you as a foreigner that doesn't know their cutsoms too well. You might end up hearing an albure or two though (sexually implied phrases that at first sight sound perfectly harmless).

It's a sign of being polite to say thank you to a taxi driver of bus driver when you get off (just because many locals are rude doesn't mean you should be too). If you're on a bus and want to get off, press the button or risk being looked at as a naco by saying "BAJAN" in the possible case the bus is too cheap to even have a functional get-off button. Bajan is very naco because it implies there's more than 1 person getting off, but it's the quickest way to get off. I personally dislike using it.

Oh, lastly, dont get too squirmish if you see underage drinking here, it's socially accepted to see children drink alcohol in rural towns.

Answer 5

If when introduced to someone they want to kiss u hello or good buy (on the cheek of course) It's very insulting to pull away. Those around will be insulted as well.

Never ever speak poorly about your mother in public. They could care less if she's a crack head, or loose canon. It will turn into a debate about cultural differences, and how American don't respect their elders, or love their mothers.

If some one offers u a drink, it's impolite to refuse, But don't really drink it. Pretend to sip it and then loose it some how.

If a little kid asks u to play with them in the sand it is totally ok to deny.

If someone asks to braid ur hair u can always say no.

It's totally acceptable to haggle a price down from a street vendor by 10-30%. they always sell it for more money to the Americans.

When introduced to an entire family great everyone individually, even the kids. It's rude to exclude anyone

Tiping at any restaurant regardless if it's a taco stand is always a good idea. If u stiff them there, it's very insulting.  

When u leave the hotel always thank the concierge or what ever attndant takes ur check out info, for their hospitality.