Differences between politeness and impoliteness based on the example of Polish and English speakers

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2,7, University of Potsdam, language: English, abstract: In every culture, the individuals behave according to some cultural norms of the society. However, when it comes to politeness and impoliteness, those notions are dictated by the culture and language, but also personal feelings of an individual. The aim of this paper is to establish the differences between the forms of politeness and impoliteness between the Western and Eastern European culture. The representatives of Poland and United Kingdom tend to different linguistic and behavioral choices, when in particular circumstances. Speakers from Great Britain and Poland have been interviewed, in order to establish whether their idea of politeness and impoliteness is culture-based or depends rather on the individual himself. Moreover, the behavioral and linguistic pattern of the individuals was evaluated to find out, whether there are certain guidelines of politeness in the given culture.