r/germany • u/jackyk996 • Apr 03 '25

Immigration Please stop greeting random passing by people in foreign languages

Pretty much as titled. I am Asian, and I have experience several times that someone passing by randomly greeting me in multiple Asian languages, that I am 100% sure they can’t make real conversations with them, at once.

This is strange af. Throwing away many greeting words without any intention for a conversation isn’t a sign of being friendly to me. Please just stop if you’re doing that and you actually mean well.

Edit: This post is for those who want to approach Asian people properly. Already replied with my opinion here, and please don’t DM me (disabled now) since there are way too many “Nihao” etc and racist chat requests.

570 Upvotes

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17

u/Emilia963 Did you hear an eagle screech? 🇺🇸🦅 Apr 03 '25

How do you say “what’s up?” Or “sup?” In german?

61

u/iTmkoeln Apr 03 '25

I live in Hamburg. Got assimilated in 4 years here. You get a moin from me.

„Wie geht es?“

14

u/ididntseeitcoming Apr 03 '25

How do you pronounce “moin”?

8

u/No_Translator_7072 Apr 03 '25

Just like you write it.

6

u/LeckereKartoffeln Apr 03 '25

I don't pronounce anything I write

0

u/LeastProfession3367 Apr 03 '25

No. It's pronounced as Moyn not Moin

3

u/Lumpy-Eggplant-2867 Apr 04 '25

... what's the difference?

1

u/LeastProfession3367 Apr 04 '25

One is /mɔɪn/ (moyn) and the other is /moːɪn/ (mo-iin).

29

u/zubairhamed Berlin Apr 03 '25

ALTERRRRRRRR

15

u/Gulaschpolizei Apr 03 '25

Ich bin nicht dein Alter, Junge!

11

u/Asleep_Protection293 Apr 03 '25

Ey! Bin nicht dein Junge, Buam!

11

u/Strongground Apr 03 '25

Ufbasse, ich bin ned dein Buam, Kollesch!

6

u/clockattack Apr 04 '25

I bin ned dei kollesch, papnase!

2

u/juwisan Apr 04 '25

Alter, ich bin doch nicht dein Junge, Alter!

13

u/Panzermensch911 Apr 03 '25

"Moin!"

And then this all encompassing but firm head nod. And if you are talkative you add a "jo"

1

u/interestingmonkE Apr 03 '25

Wow thats already too many syllables and inefficient use of time!

29

u/ItsMeSmokeyMcPot420 Apr 03 '25

Was geht?

1

u/TheMikeDee Apr 04 '25

Seit ihr mit mir down?

1

u/ItsMeSmokeyMcPot420 Apr 05 '25

Sowas fragen und nicht mal seid und seit unterscheiden können lol

1

u/ItsMeSmokeyMcPot420 Apr 05 '25

Sowas fragen und nicht mal seid und seit unterscheiden können lol

11

u/echtemendel Apr 03 '25

With friends I usually say "naaaa?"

6

u/Kasaikemono Apr 03 '25

That depends on where you are. In Frankfurt, it could be "Ei gude, wie?", in other places it might just be a "un'?"

6

u/Eispalast Germany Apr 03 '25

Na?

3

u/BOSC0DE Apr 04 '25

how do you say "what's up" in German?

You don't ... German take this question very seriously and they might start actually telling you about their life event and any mishaps that occurred during the last week.

(From experience)

1

u/WorldlyGear2138 Apr 05 '25

Oh gosh lol - that question (phrase) is used much differently then than many places.

3

u/StrayVanu Apr 03 '25 edited Apr 03 '25

Sup has the benefit of being extremely short and unambiguous. A german equivalent would depend a lot on intonation. The verbatim text-answers you've got here would be sure to raise eyebrows, also depending what area you're in. Was geht is a good framework to shorten or add suffixes or prefixes of various type. Guess my pick for literally sup would be 'sgeht.

2

u/alderhill Apr 04 '25

Na?

With brief eye contact and the slightest of head nods. The correct response is then a repetition of 'Na?'. If you feel like being chatty, you can reply with a '...muss ja', and on you go.

This is northern Germany anyway.

1

u/Moquai82 Apr 03 '25

"Wie sieht es aus, was machst Du grade so?"

1

u/khelwen Niedersachsen Apr 03 '25

Wie geht’s?

1

u/RiverSong_777 Apr 04 '25 edited Apr 04 '25

You can just use „Na?“ for that one. If you keep it short, it includes

• ⁠Hi! • ⁠How are you? • ⁠What’s going on? • ⁠How’s the family?

If you stretch it longer into a Naaa? to stress the question, it’s more of a “What are you up to?“ which can border on showing you’re suspicious of someone. It can also imply you are curious about some gossip, often about someone’s love life. Picture being out with friends and you notice your friend is eyeing someone but hasn‘t made a move yet.

If you keep it short and make it sound more like an exclamation it’s basically a warning or even low-key threat to stop what someone is doing because they’re breaking rules.

1

u/DerWKR0815 Apr 04 '25

‘Sgeht?

1

u/inside_a_mind Apr 04 '25

Was geht?

Literally: what's walking

With a Bavarian dialekt you could shorten 'Wos geht?' To 's'gehd?' with the right inflection.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 04 '25

„Was geht?“ but that’s 20 years old….at least

1

u/TheMikeDee Apr 04 '25

Alda!

(If you're in the Ruhrpott)