What The British Really Mean When They Say Things - And What Other People Hear

Check out this brilliant anonymous chart that's been getting passed around for years, and then keep reading for new analysis:

This chart also appears in "The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business," a 2014 bestseller by INSEAD professor Erin Meyer.

Meyer explain that what's happening can be explained by looking the evaluation spectrum (one of 8 scales that explain cultural interactions):

The British are inclined toward relatively indirect negative feedback. The rest of Europe is inclined toward relatively direct negative feedback.

Similarly hilarious and/or awkward communication gaps happen any time people from different ends of those cultural scales interact with each other without being aware of their differences.