Something like that but rather less polite.

My wife has lived in the UK for 30 years, but workmen smile when she addresses them as Mr.John or Mr.David, even after they have introduced themselves by their first name. She doesn't do this with our friends and the status of the person doesn't matter - it is respect for the person.

For those of you unfamiliar with Portuguese custom, there are 3 ways of adressing someone - tu, você and in the third person - as in "Se o senhor quer...." literally "If sir likes.....". Actually there are more - my own sister-in-law (or, more correctly, my wife's sister-in-law) still adresses me in the third person after almost 30 years - but as in "Se o (name) quer".

I still don't have a complete handle on it - and "você" seems fairly redundant amongst people I meet (whereas it's universal in Brazilian). My wife speaks to some friends in the third person and others as "tu", but has never been able to explain why.... and once I thought I'd be "correct" and used "você" with my brother-in-law - to which he immediately shot back "What are you, Brazilian or something?!!" (in Portuguese, of course) .... he is a "tu".

..... and people think French is complex!

probably ott - but kinda of fits the thread - i wrote it in a thoughtful moment - my entry for the Chinese cracker competition

The purpose of life is to learn.

We are all Human, Black, White, Yellow, European, American,
African, Arab, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, Agnostic

Babies and small infants have no knowledge of colour, creed, greed, theft, murder or religion.
They are simply taught wrongly - Following the teacher.

Then as we grow we are changed from Human to Sheep immitating what we see and are taught.

There are no bad sheep, but sadly some evil teachers.
Teachers who preach hatred, often in the name of Gods, but in reality simply because they are hateful people
Teachers who give bad examples
Business' that polute, poison, cheat and destroy in the name of profit.
Politicians who cheat and lie simply to line their own pockets.
People who cheat lie and steal - living off others their entire lifetime who never do a fair days work
People who want to control others - purely to impose their will - to share their spite hatred and jealousy - to deny others their freedoms and oportunties.

For what - to accumulate ridiculous numbered pieces of paper or 0's and 1's in a computer system.
For victories that mean nothing - you can't park here etc
They think in their own way they do no harm, but the sheep copy their example in their millions.
Its time to remove the bad teachers, so that real learning can commence.
Starting with regaining the knowledge we are all Human, not sheep.

or if all thats too serious in the case of drunken thugs simply round them up every night and put them on the first plane home at their cost - i believe this has been done before to great effect - word will soon get around

Do you think acquiring PT nationality might help? Would it serve to halve the embarrassment, perhaps?

I ran a business in Africa for over 30 years & employed several hundred (native/black) employees over that time period & not one of them in all that time would call me by my Christian name.......... They'd always call me Mr followed by either my first name or surname or even sometimes by one of my African tribal names (rather like a nickname) but NEVER simply by my first name.

Which takes us back to different cultures I guess.

GeniB - unfortunately it is going to get worse due to brexit or to be precise the attitudes that gave rise to brexit. Should Govt. / Embassies do more? Certainly but do not hold your breath; have I intervened? Not yet but it's only a matter of time - I have had a few close calls & rightly or wrongly it will happen!

i intervened once - a total drunk being a nuisance
i simply picked him up in a bear hug and carried him outside
it was surprisingly easy

I agree entirely. When I bought a place here 10 years ago, I loved downtown Pest. Nowadays, the so-called party district is to be largely avoided after dusk.

i deleted my posting - basically i agreed with this one - the attitudes of brexit will make it much worse - i did say more - but in all honesty i've had enough death threats from those nice brexit people for one year so i deleted it - see i posted a whatever the **** they are so its alright now

joking aside i really can't imagine what 17 million people who all vow they hate Europe - i know - hate the eu - better or at least accurate - hate foreigners especially ones from Europe - i know- say things like send all Europeans home - die expat traitors - we hate the undemocratic unelected corrupt EU - i know - etc etc will do on their 10 days of cheap beer and sunburnt fun packed holidays - probably i' m guessing in Europe - maybe even in the EU
a fun summer this one will probably not be - personally i'm avoiding all of the places these people are likely to visit - if not i think there's a real possibility i'd rip someones head off

Another way of looking at the 'Brit problem' is from the viewpoint of statistics. The two nationalities this thread has named as being rude, obnoxious, embarrassing etc represent, not coincidentally, by far the greatest number of tourist visitors to Portugal. If 5% of the Brit or French tourists in Portugal behave badly, you're going to notice them a lot more than if 5% of the Americans there are behaving in exactly the same way.

Having said that, I hate ugly tourists (and I'm not talking about how good they look!). I'm from Perth in Australia, so Bali is a popular choice for a quick and cheap holiday. Australians are by far the largest group of tourists there, and although we're by no means all yobs some of the drunken behavior I've seen makes me want to tell the locals I'm British

http://www.portugalglobal.pt/EN/Bibl...PaisIngles.pdf
The main markets generating tourism revenue to Portugal, in 2016, were France (with 18% of the total), the United Kingdom (17.9%), Spain (12.9%), Germany (11.7%) and the USA (4.7%), that together make up 65.1% of the total for this period.

I don't think it's a competition! What you say is true, but in Europe, few other nationalities display the same characteristics as Brits abroad, whether it be for holidays or football. The French don't get drunk, but they have a reputation for rudeness - maybe because tourism outside France is relatively new for them.

Which brings me to your statistics - well you know the expression "lies, damned lies & statistics", this is a case in point. I'm sure people would be astounded to know there was more revenue from French tourists than English.... probably because the statistics only count what they count - we don't know how "revenue" is calculated.

The second figures you quote are again for nights in a hotel, not overall visitors - my gut instinct tells me there are many, many more Dutch than Americans, but they use motorhomes a lot so won't register so highly on the stats here. Indeed, with Schengen, it's impossible to say how many EU visitors there are by nationality.

It also depends on the time period and geographical sample - a constant trickle of French tourists all over Portugal, throughout the year will have less immediate impact than the mass migration of Brits to the Algarve in the summer.

Never rely on statistics over observation....

I actually think it comes from the Frencn influence doesn't it ? Using the Tu form means you are family and close.Anyone hearing it would know that then.The others are just as you say polite formalities. My OH was never addressed by his christian name at his office in the Netherlands ,in over 30 +yrs. It was always de Heer......or occasionally meneer de...Whilst the Dutch aren't known for their manners in general,in this respect they were very keen on rank.

I like your philosophy Carv. It is almost from the teachings of Buddha(altho sadly two men i know have taken those teachings recently and mangled them into meaning they can sleep with two women at the same time )

Juries out with me on wether we are born totally pure. Having been able to closely observe one 'baby' who was more than 'naughty' from the second he could walk.He 'stole' a milk float and crashed it into a neighbours porch at the age of two and a half. (the milkman wanted to smack his bottom thinking he was a strapping four yrs old)At the sam age he tried to smother his baby brother in his cot.. seriously!! He poked sticks into little (toddler) girls tummies and bottoms.even going for the eyes sometimes His final act before they left to live in Buckinghamshire was to fling himself through their plate glass sliding doors ,running full tilt at them.
His parents were the nicest people you could meet ,ditto his brother in later life. Not an ounce of aggression in either of them.Often wondered what happened to him and them
The fact remains that this has been going on since the 60's and i don't recall the British government doing one thing about it. They must be more than aware of this aggression mixed with alcohol..they have had yrs of football hooliganism .It was up to the clubs in the end to put a stop to that. It's almost like they don't care what our reputation abroad is .Is that arrogance on their part.?

I don't think I can acquire PT nationality.. I can become a citizen though. If it all goes completely pear shaped.. I will

It won't make any difference to my level of embarrassment though. I am British and will always be proud to say i am. I will also remain angry at those who bring our country into disrepute.

Good for you