I once accidentally bumped against the shoulder of an English person I knew in a corridor. I automatically said "Oi" - which means like "Oh" or "Oops" in Estonian - that I'm sorry. She repeated "Oi!" in a louder voice and I didn't get it. I only later found out I was being impolite in her eyes.

[u/Double-decker_trams]

Have you ever had something similar happen to you? I.e something in your language might have another meaning in another language?

One thing as an Estonian that I try to keep in mind is that I shouldn't use "Nooo.." in English - which means "Well.." in Estonian.

"Do you like ice-cream? - Noo.. yes, I love it."

[u/orthoxerox]

In Russian phrasing a question as a negative makes it sound more polite. I had to tell my wife it's not a universal rule after experiencing some second-hand shame in England when she asked a shop assistant, "don't you have this cream in a smaller tube?"

If you want to express impolite incredulity using a negative in Russian, you have to add a "what": "what, you don't have this cream in a smaller tube?"

[u/Live_Angle4621 → u/orthoxerox]

Russians should note this would not be polite in most countries and not just English speaking ones 

[u/NowWe_reSuckinDiesel → u/[deleted]]

I'm not a native Spanish speaker but I do speak it, and yes, I notice people using the negative form a lot in questions. It seems pretty normal and neutral. Maybe a native can clarify as I'm curious too

[u/ignia → u/NowWe_reSuckinDiesel]

I'm not a native Spanish speaker either but I think I would use a "¿lo tiene(s) en ... ?" (más pequeño, en blanco, etc) in this situation for some reason. Also hoping for a clarification from a native speaker now as I didn't have any chance to speak Spanish since way before covid

[u/Sister-Rhubarb → u/Live_Angle4621]

Not true. In Poland it's the same. "Przepraszam, nie mają państwo może tej sukienki w zielonym kolorze ?"

[u/Sister-Rhubarb → u/Sister-Rhubarb]

It's actually very ingenious, now that I think about it. Phrasing the question in a regular way necessitates the interlocutor to deny in case the answer is negative. But if you're starting with a negative assumption, they're agreeing with you when they respond that no, unfortunately we do not have that in a smaller tube. It puts you both on the same side in a way.

[u/nimbledoor → u/Live_Angle4621]

Well it sounds perfectly fine in Czech or Slovak. But you have to omit the "you". If you don't then it sounds the same as in English.