you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 7 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

I was told explicitly not to yell "Fraulein, ich möchte mehr wasser bitte!" across the restaurant during my german class' essen section.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    You never ever say Fräulein. It is disrespectful. 100 years ago it was a normal term to refer to an unmarried woman, but today it is rude, almost insulting. Please don't use that word, ever. It's Frau Müller for a woman and Herr Müller for a man, regardless of age and marital status.

    If you want the waiter's attention, make eye contact, and give a nod or a subtle hand gesture. If they are obviously busy then wait.

    Here we treat waiters mostly as equals. Imagine it as if an acquaintance or a neighbour was serving you - that's much closer to how you should treat them.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments